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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





Class L-Zdy 

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OKKICIAI> DONATIOISr. 



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Compliments of 

Joint Special Committee 

OF THE 

Genezal Assembl}^ of the State of Rhode Island, etc., 

On the Remains of 

Gen. Nathanael Greene. 



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^ 




Major-General Nathanael Greene. 



From a portrait in the Rhode Island Historical Society, 
Providence, RM. 



The Remains 



of 



Major-General Nathanael Greene 



A REPORT 



JOINT SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL 
ASSEMBLY OF RHODE ISLAND APPOINTED TO 
TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE DESIRABILITY 
OF SECURING WITHIN THE STATE OF RHODE 
ISLAND A PERMANENT RESTING-PLACE FOR THE 
REMAINS OF GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE 



PROVIDENCE 

E. L. FREEMAN * SONS, PRINTERS TO THE STATE 
1003 



,^Kn 5 1904 
D.ofD, 



List of Illustrations. 



Major-General Nathanael Greene Frontispiece. 

His Excellency Charles Dean Kimball opposite page 4 

Horace F. Horton " " 8 

James E. Banigan " " 12 

Frank T. East(Mi " " r6 

Hon. Emory Speer " " 20 

J. Stacy Brown " " 24 

Harry H. Shepard " " 28 

Francis W. Greene " " 32 

Edward Field " " 36 

Charles H. Howland " " 40 

George Washington Greene Carpenter ..... " " 44 

George Corlis Nightingale .... " " 48 

Hall clock, formerly owned by Gen. Greene. " " 52 

North side of Greene Monument, vSavannah. " " 56 
Birthplace of Gen. Nathanael Greene, in 

igo2 " " 65 

Nathanael Greene " " 67 

Birthplace of (ien. Nathanael Greene " " 73 

The Garrettson House, Newport, R. I. ... " " 77 

Gen. Greene's Gun " " 78 

William (rreene House. East Greenwich, 

R. I " " 81 

Site of the Pendleton House, Savannah.... " " S3 

Home of Gen. Greene at Coventry, R. I . . . " " 85 
Tomb within which Gen. Greene's remains 

were found ", " g6 

Coffin-plate found amongthe remainsof Gen. 

Greene " " 104 

Colonial Park, Savannah, January 21, 1S96. " " 117 



IV InATHANAEL GREENE. 

Colonial Park, Savannah, November 21, 1897. opposite page 121 

Gen. William W. Gordon " " 124 

Robert Tyler Waller " " 126 

Rt. Rev. Cleland K. Nelson " " 12S 

Walter G. Charlton " " 130 

Robert L. Colding " " 132 

U. S. Coast Artillery, from Fort Screven, 

Ga " " 135 

Invited Guests at the Exercises at Savannah. " " 137 

Mrs. Edward Karow " " 140 

Base of Greene Monument, Savannah, Ga. . " " 142 

Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner, LL.D., LH.D " " 144 

Tablet placed by D. A, R. on Greene Monu- 
ment " " 152 

Caisson of Chatham Artillery, with remains 

of Gen. Greene " " i6t 

South side of Greene Monument, Savannah. " " 164 
Colonial Park, Savannah, Ga. , November 14, 

1902 " " 177 

Colonial Park, Savannah, Ga., November 14, 

1902 ; " " 193 

Johnson Square, Savannah, Ga., November 

14, 1902 " " 201 

Plat of Colonial Park " " 243 



^ 



Report* 



To the Honorable the General Assembly of 
the State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations : 

The Joint Special Committee of the General 
Assembly, appointed to take into considera- 
tion the permanent location of the remains of 
General Nathanael Greene within this State, 
respectfully reports that on the fifth of March, 
1 90 1, the late Governor Gregory received the 
following telegram, dated Savannah, Ga., 
March 4, 1901, from Col. Asa Bird Gardiner, 
of New York, President of the Rhode Island 
State Society of Cincinnati ; 

" De Soto Hotel, Savannah, Ga., Mar. 4. 

" Hon. William Gregory, Governor, 

State of R. /., Prov. : 

"Have to announce to you and Rhode Island 
General Assembly that, after diligent search 
several days, committee appointed by Rhode 



2 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

Island state society of Cincinnati from among 
eminent citizens Savannah discovered to-day 
remains Major- General Nathanael Greene in 
Colonial cemetery. Expenses being borne by 
society congratulate you this happy discovery. 
Letter mailed. 

"Asa Bird Gardiner, 

Pi'cst. R. I. Cincinnati Chairman 
Commit teer 

This telegram was duly communicated to 
both branches of the General Assembly; sub- 
sequently Governor Gregory received by mail 
a communication, dated March 13, 1 901, from 
Col. Gardiner, setting forth with much detail 
the circumstances connected with the dis- 
covery of the- remains of General Nathanael 
Greene in what is known as Colonial Park, in 
the city of Savannah, Ga., but formerly one of 
the ancient burial grounds of said city. (Ex- 
hibit A.) ^ 

This statement was also communicated by 
Governor Gregory to the General Assembly 
of Rhode Island, then in session, and in the 
Senate, March 20, 1901, was read, and ordered 
communicated to the House of Representa- 
tives, and on the same day, in House of Repre- 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 3 

sentatives, was " laid on the table temporarily." 
The next day, March 21, 1901, the communi- 
cation was referred, in House of Representa- 
tives, to the Committee on Education. 

On account of the great amount of business 
in the hands of the committee, and it beino^ 
near the close of the session, no action was 
taken before the adjournment. 

On January 21, 1902, Col. Gardiner, in a 
letter to Hon. Charles P. Bennett, Secretary 
of State, requested that this communication 
be brought to the attention of the Governor; 
and on February 11, 1902, Governor Kimball 
— Governor Gregory having deceased' — com- 
municated to the Senate the correspondence 
which had passed between himself and Col. 
Gardiner relative to the subject (Exhibit B), 
which was duly referred to the House of 
Representatives. Two days later, February 
13, 1902, a resolution, "creating a joint special 
committee to take into consideration the per- 
manent location of the remains of Gen. Na- 
thanael Greene within this state," was adopted, 
which is as follows : 



' William Gregory, Governor of the State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations, died December i6, 1901. 



4: nathanael greene. 

" State of Rhode Island, &c. 
" In General Assembly, 

"January Session, A. D. 1902. 

" Resolution creating a joint special committee 
to take into consideration the permanent 
location of the remains of Gen. Nathanael 
Greene within the state. 

[Passed February 13, 1902.] 

''Resolved, That two members of the senate 
and three members of the house of representa- 
tives be and they hereby are appointed a joint 
special committee to inquire into and ascertain 
the desirability of securing within the state of 
Rhode Island a permanent resting place for 
the remains of Gen. Nathanael Greene." 

[Endorsement.] 

" Resolution 

creating a joint special committee to 
take into consideration the perma- 
nent location of the remains of Gen. 
Nathanael Greene within the state^" 

The committee appointed pursuant to this 
resolution consisted of Messrs. Horace F. Hor- 
ton, of Cranston, and James E. Banigan, of 
Pawtucket, of the Senate; and Messrs. Frank 
T. Easton, of Providence, J. Stacy Brown, of 
Newport, and Harry H. Shepard, of Bristol, of 




His Excellency Charles Dean Kimball, 
Governor of Rhode Island. 



/' 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 

the House. Subsequently another resolution 
was adopted, and Francis W. Greene, of War- 
wick, a member of the House of Representa- 
tives, was added to the committee,' and the 
following resolution adopted : 

" Resolution authorizing the joint special com- 
mittee to take into consideration the per- 
manent location of the remains of General 
Nathanael Greene within the state to em- 
ploy a secretary, and making an appropria- 
tion for the expenses of said committee. 

[Passed February 26, 1902. J 

'■Resolved, That the joint special committee 
to take into consideration the permanent loca- 
tion of the remains of General Nathanael 
Greene within the state be and they hereby 
are authorized to employ a secretary. 



'"Resolution making an additional member of the joint 
special committee to take into consideration the perma- 
nent location of the remains of Gen. Nathanael Greene 
within the state. 

[No. 28. Passed March 5, 1902.] 

''Resolved, That representative Francis W. Greene, of 
Warwick, a kinsman of General Nathanael. Greene, be and he 
hereby is appointed a member of the joint special committee 
to take into consideration the permanent location of the 
remains of General Nathanael Greene within the state, in ad- 
dition to the members of said committee hitherto appointed." 



6 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

"■'Resolved, That the state auditor is hereby 
authorized and directed to draw his order on 
the state treasurer, payable out of any money 
in the state treasury not otherwise appropri- 
ated, for the necessary expenses of said com- 
mittee, including compensation of the secretary 
thereof, upon receipt of vouchers therefor duly 
approved by the governor." 

On February 25, 1902, the Committee on 
Education asked to be relieved from further 
consideration of the matter, and the whole 
subject was referred to the Joint Special Com- 
mittee created by the aforegoing resolutions. 

At an informal meeting of the members of 
this committee, Mr. Easton was authorized to 
invite Col. Gardiner to come to Providence 
and appear before the committee to discuss 
the subject, to which invitation Col. Gardiner 
promptly replied that he would be in Provi- 
dence on March 5, and meet the committee. 

The committee met for organization in the 
Governor's room, at the State House, on March 
4, 1902, and organized with Hon. Horace F. 
Horton, of Cranston, as chairman, and Edward 
Field, of Providence, as secretary. 

March 5, 1902, the committee, with His Ex- 
cellency Governor Kimball, met at the Gov- 



NATHANAEL GREENE, 



ernor's room, State House ; Col. Gardiner was 
also present, and explained the circumstances 
attending the discovery of the remains of Gen. 
Greene. 

During the period which had elapsed since 
the news of the discovery of Gen. Greene's 
remains had been made public, doubts had 
been expressed by many persons as to the 
identity of these remains ; and some of the 
newspapers of the country had carelessly re- 
ferred to the subject, emphasizing that doubt 
which many had entertained. Besides this, it 
had come to the attention of your committee 
that the impression prevailed in the South 
that the State of Rhode Island was striving to 
secure these remains, urging as a reason for so 
doing that the State was the birthplace of 
Gen. Greene, and that his remains should be 
brought back to the place of his birth and 
there be interred. In order that the commit- 
tee might be fully advised regarding the whole 
situation, and that the most complete evidence 
obtainable of the identity of the remains be 
secured before taking any action whatever, it 
was decided to send a representative to Savan- 
nah, for the purpose of fully investigating the 
whole subject; and on March 6, the committee 



8 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

directed the secretary to proceed to Savan- 
nah, Ga., and such other places as might be 
neccessary, for the purpose of making such 
investigation and inquiry regarding the dis- 
covery of the remains of Gen. Nathanael 
Greene as would serve to assist in establish- 
ing their identity, and also for the purpose of 
securing any other information pertinent to 
the subject. 

Pursuant to the direction of the committee 
Mr. Field visited the cities of Savannah and 
New York, where he made such investigation 
and inquiry as had been contemplated by your 
committee, and, upon returning, reported the 
results of his inquiry, the material facts of 
which are included in the account of the death 
of Gen. Greene, his burial, the discovery of the 
remains, and their final interment, which is 
annexed hereto and made a part of this report. 

Upon the arrival of Mr. Field in Savannah, 
he was invited to meet the local committee, 
arranging for the ceremonies incident to the 
re-interment of the remains of Gen. Greene. 

At this meeting, the committee's representa- 
tive stated that Rhode Island had expressed 
no preference as to the place of final interment 
of the remains, nor would that State take any 




Horace F. Hurton, 
Chairman, Committee of Rhode Island General Assembly. 



NATHAXAEL GREENE. d 

action relative to the matter until the commit- 
tee of the General Assembly had been thor- 
oughly informed of the situation. Your com- 
mittee is assured that this statement of the 
impartial position of the State touching the 
matter was reassuring and highly pleasing to 
the people of Savannah, for it had been under- 
stood, among the committee members and 
others, that Rhode Island had declared its 
intention to take steps to secure the remains 
for final interment at Providence; and that the 
Legislature had appropriated funds to defray 
the expenses of the funeral, of descendants of 
Gen. Greene who might attend, and probably 
of an escort for the remains from the Chatham 
Artillery. This impression was gained through 
private letters received in Savannah. 

This supposed attitude of Rhode Island in 
relation to the subject had aroused some feel- 
ing, in some portions of the South, against the 
State, and had been made the subject of sev- 
eral newspaper stories in which the State had 
been criticised for its action ; and a pamphlet 
containing uncomplimentary allusions to the 
subject had been given wide publicity. It was 
perhaps fortunate that the State of Rhode 
Island had its representative present in Savan- 



10 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

nah, at this particular time, to explain the 
situation and correct the impression that pre- 
vailed. 

As the right to the disposition of the re- 
mains of Gen. Greene rested entirely with his 
descendants, your committee felt that it was 
desirable to know officially their feelings in 
the matter before any action was taken by the 
State regarding the subject. With that end 
in view, your committee prepared and submit- 
ted to your honorable body the following pre- 
amble and resolution, which was unanimously 
adopted : 

"State of Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations. 

" In General Assembly. 

"January Session, A. D. 1902. 

" Resolution, relative to the remains of Gen- 
eral Nathanael Greene. 

''Whereas, The people of Rhode Island have 
learned, with profound satisfaction, that the 
remains of Major-General Nathanael Greene, 
who died at his plantation, at Mulberry Grove, 
in the State of Georgia, on the 19th of June, 
1786, have recently been discovered in a vault 
in Colonial Park, formerly one of the ancient 
cemeteries in the City of Savannah, Georgia ; 



NATHANAEL GREEXE. 11 

""And Whereas, The people of Rhode Island, 
recognizing the eminent services which Na- 
thanael Greene gave to the cause of liberty 
during the struggle for American independ- 
ence, desire to show its appreciation of his 
great genius as a military commander and his 
sterling worth as a citizen, and to pay its tri- 
bute to the memory of so distinguished a son 
of Rhode Island when those remains are final- 
ly committed to earth. 

'"Be it therefore Resolved, That the joint 
special committee of the general assembly of 
the State of Rhode Island, appointed to take 
into consideration the permanent location of 
the remains of Gen. Nathanael Greene within 
the State, be and is hereby authorized to take 
such action as may be necessary to ascertain 
the wishes of the descendants of General 
Greene as to the place of final interment of 
thesfe honored remains, and in the event that 
the descendants of General Greene desire to 
have his remains buried within this State, snid 
committee is hereby directed to report the fact 
to the general assembly forthwith, in order that 
suitable provision may be made for the cere- 
monies therefor and for an appropriate mem- 
orial to mark the place of such interment ; but 
in the event that the descendants of General 
Greene desire to have his remains finally buried 
elsewhere than within this State, then said 
committee is hereby authorized to make such 



12 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

arrangements as may be suitable and proper 
in order that the State of Rhode Island may 
be represented at such interment and may do 
full honor to the memory of its distinguished 
son. 

''Resolved, That the sum of two thousand 
dollars be and the same hereby is appropriated 
to defray the expenses of said committee, in- 
cluding the making of the said inquiries of the 
descendants of General Greene, and provisions 
for the representation of the State at his burial, 
in case such burial shall be without the State ; 
and the state auditor is hereby directed to 
draw his orders from time to time upon the 
general treasurer for so much of said sum as 
may be necessary, out of any money in the 
treasury not otherwise appropriated, upon the 
receipt of proper vouchers approved by the 
governor." 

Pursuant to the direction therein contained, 
the following letter of inquiry was sent to each 
of the known descendants of Generp^l Greene: 

" Your attention is respectfully called to the 
enclosed copy of the resolution of the General 
Assembly of the State of Rhode Island, passed 
at the January session, A. D. 1902. 

" Pursuant to the directions therein, this 
committee would be pleased to have you ex- 
press your preference for the place of burial of 




James E. Banigan, 
I^Iember of Committee of Rhode Island General Assembly. 



/^ 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 13 

the remains of your distinguished ancestor, 
Major- General Nathanael Greene, that this 
State may be able to take action towards pay- 
ing its tribute of respect to his memory. 

" In asking you to thus signify your prefer- 
ence for the spot which shall be his final rest- 
ing place, the committee feels that it would fail 
to do its full duty if reference was not made 
to the fact that the people of Rhode Island 
hold in sacred memory the name and fame of 
him, who, during the eventful days of the 
struggle for American Independence, for inde- 
fatigable industry, for strength and breadth of 
intelligence, and for unselfish devotion to the 
public service, was second only to Washington, 
and would esteem it a high honor to accept 
from his descendants those honored remains 
for interment in the soil of the State where 
rest the ashes of his ancestors. 

" The favor of a prompt reply would greatly 
facilitate the duty of the committee." 

This letter was sent to twenty-three descend- 
ants of Gen. Greene, in the southern, mid- 
dle, and eastern States, and replies were received 
frofn eighteen ; all but three expressing the 
wish that the remains be re-interred in the 
city of Savannah, where they had rested since 
the death of their distinguished ancestor; 
these three, however, expressed a preference 



14 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

for the battle-field of Guilford, in North Caro- 
lina, for their final resting place. 

The decision of a majority of the descendants 
of Gen. Greene, as expressed by the replies to 
your committee, determined, as far as this State 
was concerned, the place of final interment. 

In the meanwhile a petition from the Society 
of the Cincinnati in the State of Rhode Island, 
addressed to " The Honorable, the Governor 
and General Assembly," had been received by 
the Governor, which was referred to your com- 
mittee. (Exhibit C). 

This petition set forth with much detail the 
important facts of General Greene's connection 
with Rhode Island and that society of which 
he was formerly president, and asked that a 
reasonable appropriation be made by the State 
for the expenses incurred in connection with 
the discovery of the remains, and for such fur- 
ther necessary disbursements as might be in- 
curred in their final interment. ^ 

Before any action could be taken relative to 
this proposition, your committee was informed 
that an "Association of Patriotic Societies" 
had been formed in Savannah for the purpose 
of takins: full charo^e of the re-interment of the 
remains of Gen. Greene and assuming the en- 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 15 

tire expense thereof, and in October invitations 
were received by the Governor and your com- 
mittee from this association to be its guest at 
the ceremonies connected with the re-inter- 
ment, at Savannah, Georgia, on Friday, No- 
vember 14, 1902. 

All the members of the committee, with the 
exception of Mr. Shepard, who was detained 
by reason of business engagements, accom- 
panied by Edward Field, secretary. Executive 
Secretary Charles H. Howland, Master George 
W. G. Carpenter^ son of Alva E. and Anna 
M. (Greene) Carpenter, and great-great-grand- 
son of Nathanael Greene, and Mr. Georee C. 
Nightingale, left Providence on Tuesday, No- 
vember 1 1, and arrived in Savannah on Thurs- 
day morning, the 13th, where they were met at 
the Union Station by a committee consisting 
of Gen. W. W. Gordon, Alderman Frank F. 
Jones, Mr. W. R. Leaken, Mr. J. M. Barnard, 
Jr., Mr. F. D. Bloodworth, Mr. Alfred Bearing 
Harden, and Capt. G. B. Pritchard, and were 
escorted to the De Soto Hotel, where accom- 
modations had been provided for them during 
their stay as guests of the association, and 
where they spent the remainder of the morn- 
ing. In the afternoon, shortly before 4 o'clock. 



16 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

the representatives from Rhode Island were 
taken for a drive, escorted by a committee 
consisting of Mr. W. R. Leaken, chairman, 
Captain C. B. Pritchard, F. F. Jones, J. M. 
Barnard, Jr., S. E. Theus, A. D. Harden, G. 
H. Remshart, and Charles Ellis, the committee 
of entertainment appointed by the Associa- 
tion of Patriotic Societies. 

The trip included a visit to Bonaventure 
Cemetery, formerly an extensive plantation, 
then to the Savannah Yacht Club and the 
Casino — a popular river resort on the site of 
old Fort Beauregard. From the Casino the 
party was driven back to the city, and then a 
trip to various points of interest in the city 
was made. The drive came to an end about 
6:30 o'clock, when the party returned to the 
De Soto for a short rest before being taken by 
the same committee to the annual dinner of 
the Oglethorpe Club. 

Invitations, extending the cotirtesies of the 
various clubs in Savannah, were received by 
each member of the party upon their arrival. 
On Friday morning His Excellency Governor 
Kimball arrived in Savannah, and was received 
at the depot by a delegation from the Associa- 
tion of Patriotic Societies, and was at once 




y Frank T. Easton, 

Member of Committee of Rhode Island General Assembly. 



^ 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 17 

driven to the De Soto Hotel. On the day 
before, His Honor Emory Speer, United 
States District Judge for the Southern Dis- 
trict of Georgia, had caused the following 
order to be entered upon the records of the 
court : 

" Upon motion of the committee of the bar 
of the United States Courts, ordered that the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, the 
Society of Colonial Dames of America, the 
Society of the Cincinnati, the Sons of the 
Revolution, the Society of the Colonial Wars, 
and the guests of the Associated Patriotic 
Societies be and they are hereby cordially in- 
vited to attend the session of the United 
States Courts in the government building at 
half past lo o'clock to-morrow morning, the 
14th inst., to greet his excellency, the Gov- 
ernor of the State of Rhode Island. 

" Ordered, further. That the city papers be 
requested to publish this invitation. 

" Emory Speer, Judged 

The idea had its inception in the minds of 
Messrs. W. R. Leaken, \V. W. Gordon, Jr., 
Walter G. Charlton, and Edward S. Elliott, 
representing the Association of Patriotic So- 
cieties. It was on motion of Capt. Gordon, 



18 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

" Who submitted that the Governor of Rhode 
Island would be pleased to meet the Judge of 
the United States Courts, in the beautiful tem- 
ple of justice, that the order of court, em- 
bodying an invitation, was entered by Judge 
Speer." 

At about 10:30 o'clock, His Excellency Gov- 
ernor Kimball, your committee, and the other 
representatives from Rhode Island were driven 
to the Government building and escorted to 
the spacious court-room. Here was a brilliant 
assemblage of ladies and gentlemen, represent- 
ing the different patriotic societies, invited to 
take part in this reception. At 11 o'clock, the 
court crier commanded silence, and Judge 
Speer, escorting His Excellency Governor 
Kimball, entered, and took seats upon the 
bench. 

Judge Speer, in his address of welcome, 
said: 

" Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
It gave me great happiness to grant the order 
sought by patriotic members of the bar, which 
has resulted in this auspicious meeting. 

" Indeed, all the felicities seem to conspire 
to make the incident appropriate. The Gov- 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 19 

ernor of one of the thirteen original States, with 
an ennobhng, patriotic mission, has come to 
visit the people of another. These two States 
have been, and are, about equally devoted to 
the union of all the States. It is true that along 
in the early 6o's, for about four years, Georgia 
tried to go out ; but for about the same length 
of time after the constitution was adopted 
Rhode Island stayed out, and not until long 
after our first President had been inaugurated 
did the charming little sister come reluctantly 
pouting into the family circle of States. But 
since then what a devoted little sister she has 
been, and how we all love her, and how happy 
we are to welcome her chief magistrate. 

" And the spot on which we stand, marked 
by this exquisite structure of that government 
which Rhode Island and Georgia at least will 
forever uphold, is itself eloquent with memories 
of that great past which made our nation pos- 
sible. 

" Little more than a hundred and twenty- 
three years ago, the Daughters of the Revolu- 
tion of that day, the forebears of many now 
present, cowering in cellars within the sound 
of my voice, hugged their little ones to their 
agonized hearts, as the mitraille of cannon 



20 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

balls and grape-shot from the allied batteries 
swept the ramparts of the British and shat- 
tered the fraofile structures above their heads. 

"Now, the Daughters never cower, but, reg- 
nant, triumph in the hearts of their country- 
men. And more, on this lot, marked out by 
the fine engineering eye of James Edward 
Oglethorpe, stood the first court house in the 
colony of Georgia, and there the noble founder 
sought to administer justice, perchai)ce be- 
tween contending Colonial Dames of that day; 
and perchance, also, in the presence of their 
charms,, discovered that, if justice is always 
blind, judges sometimes are not. The court 
house of the week was the church of the Sab- 
bath, and here John Wesley preached; and it 
was not without consolation to the judiciary, 
when we recall that a " colonial " influence 
upon the preacher was not less effective than 
upon the judge. 

" The palms which rustle with tjae zephyrs 
of our soft clime, the pines sighing with aeolian 
measures, the river as it flows majestic to the 
sea, are all voiceful of an heroic past. And 
surely the people of this high-minded city 
may deservedly appropriate the beautiful lines 
of Cowper: 




Hon. Emory Sheer, 



United States District Judge for the Southern District 
of Georgia. 



^ 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 21 

' We talk of patriots, and their deeds, as they deserve, 
Receive proud recompense. We give in charge their 

names to the sweet Ij're. 
The historic Muse, proud of the sacred treasure, 
Marches with it down to latest times. 
And sculpture in her turn gives bond in stone 
And ever during brass, to guard and to mortalize 

the trust.' 

" But at another hour, and by a gallant son 
of New York, will there be adequate expression 
of this inspiring sentiment. Here and now we 
meet to felicitate ourselves on the presence, 
and to welcome that distinguished American 
and his patriotic fellow citizens, Gov. Kimball, 
the chief mao-istrate of Rhode Island." 

At the conclusion of the address His Excel- 
lency Governor Kimball arose to respond, and, 
as a mark of greeting, his audience, too, arose. 

Governor Kimball said: 

" Your Honor, Members of Patriotic Socie- 
ties, Ladies and Guests : The State of Rhode 
Island is honored by this greeting of the emi- 
nent people of Georgia. The tie that binds 
the two States of the American Union had its 
beginning in the dark days of the Revolution- 
ary War. The sacrifices that the people of 



22 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

both States made for a common cause en- 
deared them to each other, 

" Circumstances so shaped themselves that 
it became the lot of the best soldier Rhode 
Island produced, the famous Gen. Nathanael 
Greene, to command the Department of the 
South. Other States have been proud of their 
share in the winning of our independence, and 
we are proud that we furnished him to the 
American Army. 

" It has been the misfortune of some that 
their services have not been appreciated, but we 
take a pride in knowing that the people of the 
Southern States realize the important military 
services of Gen. Greene. When the State of 
Georgia recognized those services and invited 
him to become one of her citizens we shared 
in the honor paid to him, though we were 
sorry to lose him. 

" Circumstances rapidly change the issues of 
events in this country. The just-ifiable con- 
servatism of our ancestors in Rhode Island 
and the devotion of the people of Georgia to 
their State have passed into history. The 
people of Rhode Island, of Georgia, and of 
every other State stand shoulder to shoulder 
in defense of our common country. They 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 23 

knew that the system of government founded 
by our fathers has stood as severe tests as fall 
to the lot of government, and stood them suc- 
cessfully. 

" We realize that this country is the hope of 
the thinking men of the world ; that they ex- 
pect that new problems that have vexed phi- 
losophers since the dawn of history may be 
settled. We can assure them that Georgia 
and Rhode Island will do their share in fulfill- 
ing the destiny that we believe is in store for 
the people of the United States." 

His Excellency was heartily applauded at 
the conclusion of his response to the eloquent 
welcome of Judge Speer. 

At the conclusion of Gov. Kimball's address, 
District Attorney W. R. Leaken moved that 
the court adjourn for the day, in honor to the 
memory of Gen. Greene; whereupon Judge 
Speer declared the court adjourned. It is 
probable that the United States Court never 
before adjourned under such brilliant auspices. 
The Savannah Morning News, in its account 
of this interesting occasion, said : 

" Pregnant as it was with the fraternal feeling and 
patriotic sentiment which was distinctivel}' character- 



i'4 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

istic of the august occasion, Judge Speer's address 
touched a responsive chord with his cultured audi- 
ence. The reply of Gov. Kimball was in most happy- 
vein, voicing most appropriately the appreciation of 
the chief executive and his patriotic fellow-citizens. 

" It was a gathering calculated to inspire patriot- 
ism — a judge of the United States judiciary in the 
Empire State of the South, welcoming from the little 
sister State of Rhode Island — the native heath of the 
great general whose remains have for a century, and 
more, reposed in Georgia's soil — her chief executive 
and the representatives of her General Assembly. 

"There were present, too, many distinguished 
guests from a distance, daughters and dames of illus- 
trious lineage, sons whose progenitors framed the 
constitution and welded the indissoluble bond of fra- 
ternity between the American and French peoples, 
representatives of those who bled for their country at 
Bunker Hill and suffered sacrifice with Washington 
at Valley Forge, and even the lineal descendants of 
the great chieftain in commemoration of whose valiant 
services to his country the brilliant assemblage was 
intended." 

After the reception at the United States 
Courts, the party was taken by a committee 
of the association to the Cotton Exchange, 
where the time was spent most enjoyably, after 
which they returned to the hotel for lunch and 
to make preparation for the ceremonies at- 




J. Stacy Brown, 
Member of Committee of Rhode Island General Assembly. 



^ 



NATHAXAEL GREENE. 25 

tending the re-interment of the remains of 
Gen. Greene, later in the day. 

These ceremonies were of a most dignified 
and imposing kind. A proclamation of the 
acting mayor had made the day practically a 
holiday ; all the public offices were closed, and 
many of the merchants and tradesmen laid 
aside their business to unite in paying their 
tribute of respect to the memory of the dis- 
tinguished son of Rhode Island, the great 
commander in the struggle for American In- 
dependence, and the sterling citizen of Geor- 
gia. People from without the city joined with 
those of Savannah to take part in this patriotic 
demonstration. Your committee took part in 
these proceedings, and a full account of the 
exercises will be found in the historical ac- 
count heretofore referred to and made a part 
of this report and annexed hereto. 

The city of Savannah is to be congratulated 
on the success of this great patriotic ceremony. 
It was formal, dignified, patriotic; and, in its 
perfect systematic arrangement of details, 
showed the high qualities of the military gen- 
ius under whose direction the whole affair was 
planned and so successfully carried out. 

On Friday evening, His Excellency Gov- 



26 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

ernor Kimball was entertained at dinner at 
the home of His Honor Pope Barrow, Judge 
of the Superior Court of Chatham County. 
The other guests at the dinner being Col. 
Asa Bird Gardiner, Hon. A. O. Bacon, U. S. 
Senator from Georgia, Mr. T. P. Ravenel, 
Mr. G. \V. Owens, Judge S. B. Adams, Gen. 
W. \V. Gordon, Mr, Henr}^ C. Cunningham, 
and Walter G. Charlton, Esq. 

In closing this report, the members of your 
committee desire to place upon record their 
deep appreciation of the attention and cour- 
tesies shown them by the people of Savannah 
from the time of their arrival until their de- 
parture. They also wish to express their 
thanks for the many kindnesses shown the 
representatives from Rhode Island by the offi- 
cers and members of the Oglethorpe Club, the 
Tomachichi Club, the Hussars' Club, and the 
Savannah Yacht Club. 

The Association of Patriotic Soci€ties, whose 
guests your committee were, exemplied in its 
most perfect form that hospitality for which 
the South has such an enviable reputation. 
Business men and those in official life gave 
freely of their time to contribute to the com- 
fort and welfare of their guests ; and when it 



XATHANAEL GREENE. 27 

is considered that the time of the visit was at a 
particularly busy season of the year, this fact 
is doubly significant. 

It would be impossible to name each per- 
son individually who did so much to make the 
visit of your committee to the city of Savan- 
nah so thoroughly pleasant, for all the citi- 
zens of Savannah seemed to be united in one 
grand committee, charged with the duty of 
anticipating the wants and seeing that the 
visitors from Rhode Island lacked for nothing. 
The members of this committee, however, 
desire to particularly thank the Association of 
Patriotic Societies for the very generous hos- 
pitality extended them during their stay in the 
city of Savannah, and to express their appre- 
ciation of the services rendered by Gen. W. W. 
Gordon, President of the Association, and to 
Mr. Robert Tyler Waller, Secretary. 
Respectfully submitted, 

Horace F. Horton, CJiairman. 
" James E. Banigan, 

Frank T. Easton, 

J. Stacy Brown, 

Harry H. Shepard, 

Francis W. Greene, 
Edward Field, Secj^etaiy. 
January 8, 1903. 



Exhibit A. 

The Waldorf-Astoria, 

New York, March 13th, 1901. 

Hon. William Gregory, 

Governor of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations , 
Executive Chamber, 

Providence, R. I. 

Sir : — In 1113' telegram of March 4th, I announced 
the finding of the remains of Major-General Nathanael 
Greene in the Colonial Cemeterj' in the City of Savan- 
nah, Georgia, by a committee appointed for that pur- 
pose by the Rhode Island State Society of Cincinnati, 
and I now have the honor to make a more detailed 
report on this interesting subject. 

The Rhode Island State Society of Cincinnati was 
organized by the Rhode Island Continental Line of 
the Revolution, at Saratoga Barracks, on the Hudson, 
June 24th, 1783. At the subsequent meeting, held in 
the Senate Chamber, State House, Providence, on 
December 23rd, 1783, Major -Genergi Nathanael 
Greene presided, and was re-elected, on every suc- 
ceeding fourth of July, president, until his decease, 
he having presided for the last time at Newport, July 
4th, 1785. 

On February 28th, 18 14, this military society was 
duly incorporated by the General Assembly under its 
institution in 1783. 




Harry H. Shepard, 
Member of Committee of Rhode Island General Assembly 



^ 



XATHANAEL GREENE. 29 

Major-General Greene was born in Rhode Island on 
August 7th, 1742, and throughovit his life retained 
his citizenship in the State, and during the Revolu- 
tionary war was credited to the quota of Rhode Is- 
land in the Continental service. When he last de- 
parted, a few months before his decease, from Newport 
for Savannah, Georgia, he still retained his residence 
in Newport, Rhode Island. 

By reason of his potential services to the State of 
Georgia in compelling its evacuation by the British 
army, the Legislature of that State gave him the con- 
fiscated estate of the former Tor}- L,ieutenant Gov- 
ernor Grahame. This property, known as " Mulberry 
Grove," is located about twelve miles below Savan- 
nah, on the Savannah river. 

Here General Greene died, suddenly, on June 19th, 
1786, of a congestive chill ; and on the following day 
his remains were taken by boat to Savannah, where 
they were interred in the Colonial cemetery belonging 
to Christ Episcopal Church, in the very centre of the 
then town of Savannah, with imposing civic and mili- 
tary ceremonies. 

The Georgia Gazette of June 22nd, 1786, gives in 
detail the cer,emonies at the obsequies, and mentions 
the Society of the Cincinnati in Georgia at that time, 
but since extinct, as the principal mourners. The 
entire town united in showing honor to the remains 
of this distinguished patriot, who, next to Washing- 
ton, had shown himself greatest of our generals in the 
war of the Revolution. The Georgia Gazette, with 
reference to the place of interment, merely uses this 



30 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

language: "When the military reached the vault in 
which the bod)^ was to be entombed, they opened to 
the right and left, and, resting on reverse arms, let it 
pass through. The funeral services being performed 
and the corpse deposited, thirteen discharges from 
the artillery and three from the musketry closed the 
scene. The whole was conducted with a solemnity 
suitable for the occasion." 

It is noticeable that the particular vault in which 
the remains were deposited is not mentioned. These 
vaults were and are brick structures, mostly with a 
portion above ground, though there are a few which 
are wholly beneath the surface. The cemetery was 
surrounded by a thick and high brick wall of which 
but one side now remains, the wall being about twelve 
feet high, and toward which General Washington con- 
tributed to the erection. 

Several years ago Christ Church gave to the City of 
Savannah the cemeter}- to be made into a park, on 
condition that the remains should not be disturbed by 
the city authorities. Thereupon the wall was taken 
down on three sides facing upon the several streets, 
leaving but the rear wall on an alleyway, separating 
the cemetery from the police barracks .and, in lieu of 
trees, shrubs were planted and walks laid out. 

When General W. T. Sherman's army, on its march 
from Atlanta, Ga., came to Savannah, many of the 
vaults were opened by the soldiers in search of valua- 
bles, and much wanton destruction of monuments and 
tablets ensued ; so that to-day many of the vaults are 
without any means of identification. Some of these 



NATHAXAEL GREENE. ;^.l 

were erected before and some after Major-General 
Greene's decease. There are, however, four well- 
known colonial vaults in a row at that part of the 
park which would be intersected if lyincoln street 
were prolonged. 

It is remarkable that within a few years after 1786 
there should have been a doubt as to the location of 
General Greene's remains. It might be supposed that 
General Greene's widow and immediate descendants 
who were at " Mulberry Grove " when he died would 
have known of the location. A very few years after 
his decease, however, Mrs. Nathanael Greene married 
Phineas Miller, Esq., and removed with her famil}- to 
Dungenness House, Cumberland Island, Georgia, dis- 
tant one hundred and twenty miles from Savannah, 
and for upward of forty years afterward none of 
the Greene family resided in or near Savannah. Mrs. 
Phineas Miller, the General's widow, died at Dungen- 
ness House, September 2nd, 18 14, and the estate then 
became the property of her second daughter, Mrs. 
Louisa Shaw. The condition of the climate and sur- 
roundings at that time in Savannah were not condu- 
cive to longevity, and many of the residents there in 
the Revolutionary period soon passed awa5^ 

The place where Major-General Greene's remains 
were deposited was not indicated by any tablet, and, 
in a few years, nianj^ of those who had knowledge 
were deceased. Accordingly, in 1820, the council of 
Savannah appointed a committee to made an inquiry. 

Their report was but a brief and partial one, and in 
it they stated they had not discovered the locality, and 



32 XATHANAEL GREENE. 

that owing to insurmountable obstacles they had not 
examined the "Jones" vault, which is one of the four 
Colonial vaults above referred to and next to that 
nearest Ogelthorpe avenue of Colonel Richard Wylly, 
Deputy Quartermaster-General, Continental Army. 
That their report was unsatisfactory, partial, and in- 
conclusive is evidenced by the fact that the council 
immediately appointed another committee, which, 
however, never appears to have done anything. 

In 1840 the late George H. Johnstone, of Savannah, 
who had married a granddaughter of Major-General 
Greene, and the late Phineas Miller Nightingale, 
grandson of Major-General Greene and half-brother 
to Mr. Johnstone's wife, made another search, which 
was also very inconclusive. 

Thereupon tradition, ever unreliable, invented sev- 
eral theories as to the disposition of General Greene's 
body. 

One was that the remains had been deposited in the 
vault of former L,ieutenant-Governor Grahame, whose 
estate had been confiscated and awarded to General 
Greene as aforesaid, and that his, Grahame's, wife's 
sister, Mrs. Morsman, returning to Savannah several 
years after the Revolution, had directed the negro 
slaves to remove the remains ; and one traditional 
story said that they had been thrown into Negro 
Creek, and another that they had been buried at 
night in the cemetery. 

A gentleman named Wright, now in his ninetieth 
year, residing in Atlanta, who has been a member of 
the Chatham artillery for seventy years, states that, 




Francis \V. Greene, 
IMember of Committee of Rhode Island General Assembly. 



^ 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 88 

when a boy, he played in the cemetery, and that he 
and his playmates understood that a certain mound, 
near the corner of Oglethorpe avenue and Bull street, 
covered the remains of General Greene. L,ast August 
he came to Savannah, and, although the mound had 
been leveled, he indicated where, after a period of 
seventy-five years or more, he thought the mound had 
stood. 

Another tradition was that the remains had been 
taken secretly to Cumberland Island by a member of 
the family, and several persons asserted positively 
that they had seen the tombstone there. This tomb- 
stone is, however, that of General Greene's widow, in 
which his name appears in large characters, and 
therefore, from a cursory observation, gave rise to 
this belief. 

A number of years ago the city of Savannah erected 
an obelisk, intended both for Greene and Brigadier- 
General Count Casimir Pulaski, but for a long time 
no inscription was put upon it, and finally an inscrip- 
tion was put upon it to Major-General Greene as fol- 
lows: "Soldier, patriot, the friend of Washington. 
This shaft has been reared by the people of Savannah 
in honor of his great services to the American Revo- 
lution." 

Later another monument was erected to Brigadier- 
General Count Pulaski, who was mortally wounded in 
the unsuccessful assault on Savannah, October 9th, 
1779. 

The late President of the Rhode Island State So- 
ciet}^ of Cincinnati, the venerable and honorable 



34 NATHAN AEL GREENE. 

Nathanael Greene, M. D., I,Iv. D., grandson of Major- 
General Greene, was born at the Dungenness House, 
Cumberland Island, Georgia, June 2nd, 1809, and 
died at Middletown, Rhode Island, July 8th, 1899, in 
his ninety-first year. He remembered his grand- 
mother Greene and had spent much of his earlier 
life in Georgia, and, except during the period of the 
Civil War, was for about seventy years accustomed 
to go there every 3'ear. 

He was ver}' desirous of having a more thorough 
search made for the remains of his grandfather, and 
frequently gave me, as told him by his own father, 
Nathanael Ray Greene, a description of the remark- 
able head of his grandfather and its unusual brain 
development. 

Recently, the subject having again been agitated in 
Savannah as to the whereabouts of General Greene's 
remains, the Rhode Island State Society of Cincinnati 
adopted resolutions for an inquiry, which in substance 
are as follows : 

" Whereas, after diligent inquiry it is believed that 
full investigation has never yet been made to ascertain 
definitely where the remains of Majoj>General Na- 
thanael Greene, President of the Rhode Island State 
Society of Cincinnati, were finally deposited after his 
decease at ' Mulberry Grove ' in Savannah, Georgia, in 
1786; 

"And whereas, it is believed that a thorough search 
of the four old burial vaults in the old cemetery now 
forming a part of Colonial Park, Savannah, Geor- 
gia, will determine whether the remains are deposited 
in a certain one of said vaults, as believed by persons 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 35 

well informed in matters of local history and as sub- 
stantiated b}^ authentic record ; 

"And zi'/iereas, it is particularly appropriate that 
the Society of Cincinnati in the State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations should do whatever may 
be necessary toward ascertaining the burial place of 
its first president, the great patriot and soldier, who 
next to Washington aided so potentially in securing 
the independence of the United States ; " 

The society therefore appointed a committee to 
make the inquiry and appropriated the necessary funds 
to carry it into effect. This committee consisted of 
the Hon. George Anderson Mercer, President of the 
Georgia Historical Society, the Hon. Walter G. Charl- 
ton, President of the Society of the Sons of the Revo- 
lution in the State of Georgia, both of whom are emi- 
nent members of the Georgia bar, and Philip D. Baffin, 
Esq., Chairman of the Savannah Park and Tree Com- 
mission, and the Hon. William Harden, Secretary of 
the Society of the Sons of the Revolution in the State 
of Georgia and lyibrarian of its Historical Society, and 
Alfred Bearing Harden, Esq., of the Savannah bar, 
member of the South Carolina State Society of the 
Cincinnati^ with myself as chairman. 

These gentlemen entered heartily into the subject 
of the inquiry, and carefully weighed and considered 
everything of a traditional nature on this subject, in 
order that, if the special search which was desired 
should prove ineffective, then such weight should be 
given to the traditional stories as their peculiar charac- 
ter might warrant. The direct intention of the commit- 



;>() NATHANAEL GREENE. 

tee was, from the outset, as will be hereinafter set 
forth, to examine one particular vault as to which 
there was record information, but, as a matter of 
punctilious courtesy, the examination was delayed as 
to this vault until the last, in order to communicate 
with the descendants of the original owners of the 
vault. 

The greatest interest was manifested by the people 
of the city of Savannah. 

Several members of the committee were always 
present and a large concourse of citizens, and among 
those who attended to witness the investigations were 
the Hon. Thomas Manson Norwood, judge of the 
City Court and United States Senator in 1871-1S77, 
who came several times, and the Hon. Robert Falli- 
gant, judge of the Superior Court, and the Hon. Pope 
Barrow and Captain Thomas Screven. 

The committee was continuous!}^ assisted by Robert 
Tyler Waller, Esq., who is a grandson of ex-President 
John Tyler, and who married Major-General Greene's 
great-granddaughter. He resides in Savannah, and 
represented the junior branch of the Greene family. 

By reason of being a member of the Greene 
family, although not descended from General Greene. 
I represented, at their request, the elder branch of his 
descendants resident in Rhode Island. 

Otis Ashmore, Esq., superintendent of schools, and 
Edward J. Kelly, Esq., of Savannah, also continuous!}^ 
assisted. 

The committee's intention was first given to exami- 
nation of the many vaults, including the McLeod 




Edward Field, 
Secretarv Committee Rhode Island General Assembly, 



^ 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 3T 

vault and others, where tradition said the remains 
had been deposited. Many of these were found to be 
in very bad condition, for want of proper repairs ; but 
the most careful scrutiny was made in a reverent and 
proper manner, and records kept of the coffin-plates 
which were found, to the gratification of many people 
in Savannah, who, in the absence of distinguishinsf 
marks to those vaults — owing to the vandalism as 
before referred — did not know, with certainty, where 
the remains of certain members of their families had 
been deposited. Every vault was immediately re- 
closed, on conclusion of examination, with cemented 
brick before opening another. 

The labor was performed through the Park and 
Tree Commission, under the immediate charge of Mr. 
William H. Robertson, chief clerk and deputy to that 
commission ; and the trusted employees of that com- 
mission were employed in the important work of ex- 
amining the remains in the vault under the inniiediate 
personal supervision of the committee. 

Finally, after all the vaults where tradition, or 
statements more or less positive by citizens, averred 
that the remains were deposited had been critically 
and carefully examined, there remained but one 
still to be examined, namely, the "Jones" vault. 
This had been erected by the Hon. Noble Wimberly 
Jones, who died in Savannah, Georgia, Januarj^ 9th, 
1805. He had been Speaker in Georgia of both 
the Colonial and State L<egislatures, Delegate to 
the Continental Congress in 1775 and 1 781- 1783, and 
had been made a prisoner of war at the capitulation 



38 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

of Charleston, S. C, May 12th, 1780, and was a tried 
patriot and friend of Major-General Greene. 

It is proper here to remark that the entire story as 
to removal of the remains to Cumberland Island, 
Georgia, narrated bj^ one A. B. Goodwin of Savannah, 
as hearsay upon hearsay, told him in 1886 in a tavern 
in St. Mary's, Georgia, was disproved, not only by the 
improbable character of many of the alleged particu- 
lars, which frequently varied in the telling by said 
Goodwin, but also by the positive statements of Mr. 
Robert Tyler Waller and other members and connec- 
tions of the Greene family, including the late Hon. 
Nathanael Greene, as well as others who had visited 
that island, and b}^ the declaration, equally positive, 
of D. G. Purse, Esq., of Savannah, who, for a number 
of years, was trustee for that estate and resided there, 
the committee also having a complete record of all the 
recorded deaths at Cumberland Island, including that 
of General Henry I^ee (lyight Horse Harry) in 18 18. 

On Monday morning, March 4th instant, the vault, 
which was perfectly well known as the " Jones" vault, 
was opened. 

The late George Wimberly Jones de Renne, Esq., 
senior representative of the Jones family, and Vice- 
President of the Georgia Historical Society, many 
years ago opened that vault and found and identified 
the remains of all the members of the Jones family 
deposited there, and thereupon removed them all to 
Bonaventure cemetery, near Savannah, and closed up 
the vault. He afterward told the Hon. William Har- 
den, of the committee, and others, precisely what he 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 31i 

had done, as herein narrated. That he was able to 
identify the remains of the several members of the 
Jones family was due to the fact that this vault is 
drier and more sandy in its soil than the others which 
the committee examined. In the centre of the vault 
the committee found probabl}' a cart load of broken 
brick, which were first removed before further in- 
quiry. 

An opening through the rear brick wall was also 
made, to permit admission of light and air. 

Upon examination, there was found on one side of 
the vault, in a remarkable state of preservation, a cas- 
ket containing the remains of Mr. Robert Scott, who 
died on June 5th, 1845, fifty-six years ago, at the age 
of seventy. The silver plate to his coffin was hardly 
discolored. 

On the other side of the vault nearest the wall were 
noticed the rotting fragments of a coffin. Upon these 
being removed there appeared a man's skeleton quite 
intact, except some of the smaller ribs, which 
clearly showed that this body had never been dis- 
turbed. 

The two experienced workmen employed inside of 
the vault were Charles C. Gattman and Edward W. 
Keenan. 

As the fragments of the coffin were removed from 
the remains, they both exclaimed as to the remarkably 
prominent configuration of the skull. Mr. Kelly, 
who was watching the proceeding through the open- 
ing, at once noticed the same fact and called the at- 
tention of myself and other members of the committee 



-1-0 XATHAXAEL GREENE. 

present to this circumstance. The workmen then re- 
moved the remaining fragments of the coffin and 
looked for the plate, which was found, where it should 
be, among the bones of the breast. 

As Mr. Gattman passed this plate up through the 
opening he examined it in the bright sunlight, and 
remarked that he noticed the date "1786," he not 
knowing that this was the date of General Greene's 
decease. 

The plate is silver gilt which is quite distinguish- 
able upon the reverse side. Upon the face are not 
only the figures " 1786," but also, upon careful in- 
spection, members of the committee and Messrs. Wal- 
ler and Kell}^ discovered the letters " reene," the final 
termination of the word " Greene," in proper position; 
and Mr. W. G. Charlton was able, after some care, to 
discern the letters, just preceding these, of " ael," of 
the word " Nathanael." 

This plate, at the desire of the committee, will be 
taken to General L. P. di Cesnola, Director of the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art in the city of New York, 
to ascertain whether it can be restored by anj^ scien- 
tific process. 

Some of the bones crumbled on being handled, but 
the larger bones and skull and jaw bones were all 
preserved. They were carefully placed in a box. 

Search was then made for metal buttons. Three 
were discovered, badly corroded, upon one of which, 
however, could be traced the form of an eagle, which 
was the di.stinguishing mark upon the buttons of a 




Cii.\i^i.i:s II. Howi.ANi), 
Executive Secretary. 



/' 



IvATHANAEL GREENE. 41 

Major-General of the Continental Army of the Revo- 
lution. 

An article of mine, in the Magazine of American 
History for 1883, on this subject describes the uniform 
buttons of general olftcers of the War of the Revolu- 
tion. 

In no other vault, and in no other examination of the 
remains of the many examined, were there other than 
wooden buttons found, which had originally been 
covered with silk, cloth, or velvet. 

All the mould of Major-General Greene's remains 
was carefully collected and put in a box, which was 
then nailed up. 

Another peculiarly significant fact, which cannot 
be overlooked, was the discovery of fragments of 
heavy white silk gloves, much discolored, and con- 
taining bones of the fingers. 

These gloves were such as general officers in the 
French army would have worn, and were, doubtless, 
a present from the Marquis de I^afayette to Major- 
General Greene in 1784-5. 

The Marquis was accustomed to make presents to 
his brother officers in the Revolutionary army, and 
every time he returned to the United States he 
brought a great many gifts of a military character. 
Among other things he gave Major-General Greene a 
number of silver camp mugs, or cups, such as were 
used by Marshals of France. These are preserved 
in the family of the late Prof. George Washington 
Greene, in Rhode Island. 



42 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

His very deep attachment for Major-General Greene 
is well authenticated. 

The Rhode Island Cincinnati entertained him at 
Newport in October, 1784, on his first arrival after 
the Revolution, and he saw General Greene while 
then in the United States. 

When he came again, in 1824, he gave to General 
Greene's second daughter, Mrs. Louisa Shaw, a steel- 
plate engraving of her father, with this inscription in 
Lafaj^ette's well-known handwriting, viz : 

" To dear Mrs. Shaw 
" From her father's most intimate friend and compan- 
ion in arms — 

"IvA Fayette." 

This is now in the possession of Mrs. Robert Tyler 
Waller, great-granddaughter of General Greene, 320 
Huntington street, East, Savannah, Georgia. 

The workmen reported another body alongside, 
with fragments of a coffin. Upon these fragments 
being removed, Mr. Gattman, who has had much ex- 
perience in that business, remarked that they were 
the remains of a male person, probably eighteen or 
nineteen years of age, he not knowing that Major- 
General Greene's son, George Washington Greene, 
had been drowned in the Savannah river, off " Mul- 
berry Grove," on March 28th, 1793, and his remains 
interred alongside his father's. 

Most of these bones crumbled upon being handled. 
They were, however, carefully collected with all the 
mould, and put in another box, which was nailed up. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 4-8 

The coffin-plate was too badly corroded to enable any- 
thing to be deciphered upon it. 

The boxes were removed to the police barracks 
near by and placed under the care of the captain of 
the police over night, and the vault re-bricked and 
cemented. These proceedings were all witnessed by 
a considerable concourse of people. 

On the following day suitable boxes were procured, 
zinc-lined, and taken to the police barracks, and Mr. 
Keenan, who had assisted in the vault, in a room put 
at the service of the committee, and in the presence of 
the lieutenant of the police and other policemen, and 
the members of the committee and the press, and Mr. 
W. T. Dixon, undertaker, of 15 Perry street, East, 
and his assistants, carefully removed the remains of 
Major-General Greene to the zinc-lined box prepared 
for the purpose. In doing so Mr. Otis Ashmore, 
assisted by Mr. Edward J. Kelly, made measurements 
of the skull which corresponded to the details in 
Sully's original portrait of Major-General Nathanael 
Greene, and to the statements made by the late Hon. 
Nathanael Greene and other members of the Greene 
family. 

In the Life of Major-General Nathanael Greene, 
by his grandson, the late Prof. George Washing- 
ton Greene, there will be found, as a frontispiece 
(Volume i), a portrait of General Greene, the skull 
of which exactly corresponds to the one found. 

My lamented friend, the late Colonel John Screven, 
of Savannah, President of the Georgia Sons of the 
Revolution, had proposed to make this investigation, 



44 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

and repeatedly declared that General Greene's re- 
mains would be recognized by his skull. It was of 
the same distinctive character as the skull of Napo- 
leon Bonaparte, Humboldt, Cuvier, and Daniel Web- 
ster. 

The teeth, both upper and lower, were remarkably 
well preserved, in a jaw which showed great deter- 
mination and firmness of character, and clearly indi- 
cated the age to be about forty-four or forty-five 
years. After the remains of Major-General Greene 
had all been deposited in the zinc-lined box, the zinc 
cover was placed upon the box and soldered in its 
place; the wooden cover Avas then screwed down, 
handles put to the ends of the box, and a coffin-plate 
affixed bearing the inscription : 

"MAJOR-GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE, 
"Born August 7TH,'i742, 
"Died June iqth, 1786." 

In like manner the remains of George Washington 
Greene were transferred to the other zinc-lined box, 
which was closed in like manner, the coffin-plate con- 
taining the inscription : 

" GEORGE W. GREENE, 
"Son of Major-General Nathanael Greene." 

The remains were then taken by Mr. Dixon, the 
undertaker, in his wagon, accompanied by members 
of the committee and the press, to the Southern Bank 
of the State of Georgia, which is a depository of the 
State in Savannah. Here they were received by 




George Washington Greene Carpenter. 



X" 



NATHAXAEL GREENE. 45 

Horace A. Crane, Esq., Vice-President, and James 
Sullivan, Esq., cashier, and taken in the presence of 
these gentlemen and of the committee and deposited 
in the safe deposit vault of the bank, where they 
remain, subject to the order of the undersigned and 
Alfred Bearing Harden, Esq., of the committee, as 
trustees. 

After the remains had been di.scovered and disposed 
of on Monday, March 4th, the committee met in final 
session at the residence of the Hon. George Anderson 
Mercer, and immediately afterward, at a numerously 
attended meeting of the Historical Society of Georgia, 
in their society hall, he, as president of that society, 
announced, on behalf of the committee, the discovery 
of the remains. 

But one circumstance needs yet to be brought to 
your attention, and that is the authentic evidence on 
this subject which satisfied the committee, from the 
outset, that the proper place to inquire was the 
" Jones " vault. 

In 1 82 1 William Johnson copyrighted his life of 
Major-General Nathanael Greene, a work to which he 
had given special care and attention. In its prepara- 
tion he had visited all the scenes of General Greene's 
military operations and interviewed many who had 
been participants with him in the War of the Revolu- 
tion. In this life Johnson says that the funeral cere- 
mony of the Church of England (Episcopal) was read 
over the corpse b}" the Hon. William Stephens, as 
there was not at that time a minister of the gospel in 
the city. 



4() NATHANAEL GREENE. 

In a foot-note (Volume 2, page 120, original edi- 
tion), Johnson adds that "Judge Stephens, who per- 
formed the funeral services, has repeatedl}- told the 
author that the body of General Greene lay in the 
tomb of Jones, and that the tomb has not yet been 
searched^ 

Judge Stephens was then judge of the Superior 
Court of Georgia, and afterward United States Dist- 
rict Judge for the State of Georgia, until his decease, 
August 6th, 1819. He had been the first Attorney 
General of the State and Colonel of the Chatham 
County Militia, and Grand Master of the Masons of the 
State, and was a close friend of General Greene. 

As the late George W. Jones de Renne, when re- 
moving the remains of the Jones family to Bonaven- 
ture, was able to identify them all, there was no occa- 
sion to notice particularly other ■ remains there de- 
posited ; and in the dimness of that vault, even had 
the little coffin-plate of Major-General Greene been 
searched for and found among the remains, which 
evidentl}^ had not been the case from the position of 
the remains, nothing could have been discovered upon 
inspecting the plate without taking it to^the sunlight. 

Several indications pointed to the fact that this par- 
ticular vault had not been disturbed in the manner 
others were in 1865. 

In conclusion, the committee are indeed happy that 
their labors have resulted so successfully, and they 
have no doubt that all lovers of our country will re- 
joice with them. 

I have been particular in these details, some of 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 47 

which ma}' appear inconsequential, because in a mat- 
ter of historj' they are necessary. 

Had the Georgia Gazette of 1786 mentioned the par- 
ticular vault where General Greene's remains had 
been deposited, there would then never have been 
any doubt upon the subject. 

When the word was received in New York c\\.y of 
General Greene's untimely decease, the Revolution- 
ary officers who composed the Society of Cincinnati 
in that State assembled, with members of the Conti- 
nental Congress and public officials and functionaries 
of the State of New York, in St. Paul's Chapel on 
Broadway, to listen to the masterful oration by Alex- 
ander Hamilton upon the life and services of Major- 
General Greene. In the course of his address, Ham- 
ilton said : 

" It required a longer life and still greater opportu- 
nities, to have enabled him to exhibit in full day, his 
vast, I had almost said the enormous powers of his 
mind." 

This oration was one of the greatest ever delivered 
in this country, and can still be read and studied with 
profit b}' the militarj^ student. 

The Continental Congress, on August 8th, 1786, 
decreed a monument to General Greene's memory. 

When my honored friend, the late senior Senator 
from Rhode Island, Hon. Henry B. Anthony, on be- 
half of the State, in an address to the United States 
Senate, presented on January 20th, 1870, the life-size 
statue of General Greene for the old hall of the 
House of Representatives, he remarked that Greene 



48 NATHAXAEL GREENE. 

"stands in the judgment of his contemporaries, and 
by the assent of history, second only to the man who 
towers without a peer in the annals of America." 

All the expenses of the investigation just concluded 
were defrayed by the Rhode Island State Society of 
Cincinnati from the interest on its permanent fund, to 
which Major-General Greene contributed his month's 
pay in 1783. 

The final disposition of his remains has not as yet 
been discussed. 

General Greene was fifth in descent from Surgeon 
John Greene, who came to Providence Plantations 
with Roger Williams. 

He was a native of Rhode Island and always cred- 
ited on its Continental quota during the Revolution- 
ary War, and has always been claimed by the State 
as a citizen of Rhode Island. Upon his last trip 
South he retained his residence in Newport, from 
which he sailed October 14th, 1785. 

At the last annual meeting of the Rhode Island Cin- 
cinnati before his decease, which was held in Newport, 
he officiated as President. 

In any final determination as to where his remains 
shall be deposited, his descendants atnd the State of 
Georgia, as well as Rhode Island, should all be con- 
sulted. 

I have the honor to be, .sir, 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
ASA BIRD GARDINER, 
President Rhode Island State Society of Cincinnati, 

Chairman Committee. 




George Corlis Nightingale. 



^ 



X 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 



49 



In Senate, March 20, 1901. 
Read and ordered to be communicated to House of Rep- 
resentatives. 

David J. White, Clcj'k. 

In House op Representatives, 3/20/01. 
Ordered laid on the table temporarily. 

Thomas Z. Lee, Clerk. 

In House of Representatives, March 21, igoi. 
Referred to Committee on Education. 

Thomas Z. Lee, Clerk. 



In House op Representatives, February 25, 1902. 
The Committee on Education ask to be relieved from the 
further consideration of the within correspondence, and that 
the same be referred to the joint committee on tlie burial re- 
mains of Gen. Nathanael Greene. 



In House of Representatives, February 25, 1902. 
Referred to committee on remains of Nathanael Greene. 

Thomas Z. Lee, Clerks 



Exhibit B. 

State of Rhode Island, &c., 
Executive Department, 

Providence, February, ii, 1902. 
To the Honorable the General Assembly : 

I have the honor to communicate the accompanjnng 
correspondence for j^our consideration. 

CHARI.es dean KIMBALL, 

Gover?io?\ 

[5 Enclosures.] 

{From letter to Charles P. Bennett, Secreta7y of State, 
date of January 21, igo2.~) 

Decision has now got to be made where the remains 
of Major-General Nathanael Greene, and his son, now 
deposited in the vauh of the State Bank in Savannah, 
shall be finall}^ deposited. 

Many of the Southern descendants desire to place 
them under the monument in Savannah.^ 

As Greene was actually a native and citizen of 
Rhode Island, the State would have a claim to have 
them put under the new monument in Providence. 

Please bring the matter informallj- to the Gover- 
nor's attention. 

The proper person to correspond with in this behalf 
is Robert Tyler Waller, Esq., of Savannah, grandson 



NATHAXAEL GREENE. 51 

of President John Tyler of Virginia. He married 
General Greene's great-granddaughter, and they reside 
in Savannah. 

Ver}' truly yours, 

ASA BIRD GARDINER. 

[Enclosure i.] 

(Corv.) 

State of Rhode Island, &c.. 
Executive Department, 

Providence, Februarj- 3, 1902. 

Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner, 

Garden City, N. Y. 

My Dear Major Gardiner: — Our Secretary of 
State, Mr. Bennett, has called my attention to your 
communication with relation to the disposition of the 
remains of Major-General Nathanael Greene. I am 
of the opinion that if the matter were brought to their 
attention, our people would feel that the remains 
ought fuially to rest in General Greene's native State. 

I find in the newspapers a report from Savannah 
that seems to dispose of the whole matter. I am not 
advised that this is necessarily authentic, and will 
thank j^ou for any information on the subject. 

Sincere!}' 3'ours, 

CHARLES DEAN KIMBALL, 

GoTer7io7'. 

[Enclosure 2.] , 



52 NATHAXAEL GREENE. 

SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI 

IN THE 

State op Rhode Island and Provh^ence Plantations. 
Office of the President. 

135 Bro.\dway, New York, February 6th, 1902. 

Hon. Charles D. Kimball, 

Governor of Rhode Island. 

Sir: — The question i.s now being di.scus.sed, in 
Savannah, Ga., as to where the remains of Major- 
General Nathanael Greene and of his eldest son, 
George Washington Greene, now temporarily de- 
posited in that city, in the Southern Bank of the State 
of Georgia, shall be finally placed. 

As to this matter, the Society of the Cincinnati of 
Rhode Island beg leave, respectfull}', to .say that 
whatever arrangements may be decided upon b\- the 
descendants of Major-General Greene and the execu- 
tive of Rhode Island will be satisfactory to the 
society. 

Some of his descendants reside in Rhode Island, 
and others are scattered throughout the South. 

His family were identified, from Rog^ Williams's 
settlement of Providence, with Rhode Island, where 
he was born. 

In the Revolutionar}' War he was credited in its 
quota to the Continental Army from Rhode Island, 
and from 1783 until his decease he was a citizen 
of the State and President of its Society of the Cin- 
cinnati. 




Hall Cj.ock Formerly (Jwned by Gen. Greene. 

From a photograph of the original in the Rhode Island 
Historical Society, Providence, R. I. 



y^ 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 53 

One suggestion has been made, that his remains be 
deposited under the monument erected in his memory 
in Savannah. 

Another, that thej^ be placed under the monument 
about to be erected at the capitol in Providence. 

A third, that thej' be put under the monument 
about to be erected on the battlefield at Guilford 
Court House. 

Probably most of the descendants, other than those 
in Rhode Island, would prefer that the remains be de- 
posited in Savannah. 

If, however, you have any request to prefer in this 
behalf, I am persuaded it would not only receive the 
most respectful consideration from Major-General 
Greene's descendants, but would probably have the 
controlling influence. 

The object, therefore, of this communication is to 
respectfully suggest that you indicate your wishes in 
this behalf by communicating with Mr. Robert Tyler 
Waller, of Savannah, Georgia, a grandson of former 
President John Tyler, who married Major-General 
Greene's great-granddaughter, and is more immedi- 
ately charged with obtaining the sentiments of the 
family and acting upon tliemi 

Very respectfull}', 

Your obedient servant, 

ASA BIRD GARDNER, 

President, 
Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati. 

[Enclosure 3. J 



54 XATHAXAEL GREENE. 

Asa Bird Gardiner, 

135-7 Broadway, Corner Cedar Street, 

New York. 

February 6, 1902. 

My Dear Governor Kimball : — Since dictating 
the enclosed communication I have received your 
favor of -the 3rd instant upon the same subject. 

The newspaper story which ^-ou kindly transmitted 
is without authorship. 

The remains cannot be removed from the bank 
vault without m^- signature and that of Mr. Alfred 
D. Harden of the committee. 

I am in receipt of a note on the same subject from 
Miss Mar}- Ward Greene, of Melville P. O., Newport, 
R. I., daughter of the late Professor George Washing- 
ton Greene, and niece and heir of the late venerable 
and Honorable Nathanael Greene, M. D., LL. D., late 
President Rhode Island Cincinnati. 

If you will write to Mr. Robert Tyler Waller, of 
Savannah, expressing your views on this interesting 
subject, he will communicate with the family. The 
Greene family in Rhode Island wish the remains 
finally interred there. ^ 

Very truly yours, 

ASA BIRD GARDINER, 
President, 
Rhode Island Ciyicinnati. 

Hon. C. D. Kimball. 

[Enclosure 4.I 



XATHAXAEI> (iliKKXE. 55 

Greenesdale, R. I., Feb. 6th, 1902. 
His Excellency, Governor Kimball, 

Providence, Rhode Island. 

Dear Sir : — Mr. Asa Bird Gardiner has requested 
me to write you stating that should Rhode Island de- 
sire that the remains of General Xathanael Greene be 
buried within its bounds, I, one the lineal descendants 
of the General, great-granddaughter, should prefer 
such a disposition to be made to having them left in 
the South. 

I have rather hesitated about writing, as my near 
relationship to General Greene makes me feel it such 
a personal matter that I should be unwilling to have 
myself brought forward as proposing anything of the 
sort, while I cannot but feel that Rhode Island will be 
only doing an act of justice to one of her noblest sons 
and doing herself an honor, in thus honoring one of 
whom she is justly proud. 

Ver}^ respectfully, 

(Miss) MARY WARD GREENE. 
Melville Postal Station, Neu'port, R. L 

[Enclosure 5.] 



56 NATHAXAEL GREENE. 



Correspondence in re Remains op General Nathanael 
Greene : 



In Senate, Feb. ii, 1902. 
Read and ordered to be communicated to House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

David J. White, Clerk. 



In House of Representatives, Feb. 13, 1902. 

Read and ordered to be referred to the committee provided 
for in a joint resolution entitled " Resolution enacting a joint 
special committee to take into consideration the permanent 
location of the remains of Gen. Nathanael Greene within 
the State." 

The Speaker appoints on said committee on the part of the 
House, Messrs. Frank T. Easton, J. Stacy Brown, and Harry 
H. Shepard. 

Thomas Z. Eee, Clerk. 




North Side of Greene Mon'ument. 
Johnson Square, Savannah, Ga. 



Exhibit €♦ 

SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI 

IN THE 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 
Office of the President. 

State Op Rhode Island, 
Executive Department, 

Providence, April 8, 1902. 

Respectfully referred to the Joint Standing Committee on 
Nathanael Greene's Remains, for His Excellency Governor 
Kimball. 

Charles H. Howland, Exectdive Secretary. 

New York, April 5, 1902. 

To the Honorable, the Governor and General Assembly 
of the State of Rhode Island and Pj'ovldenee Planta- 
tions : 

The memorial of the Society of the Cincinnati in 
the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 
re.spectfully represents that this .society was instituted 
by the officers of the Rhode Island Continental line 
of the Revolution while in service at Saratoga Bar- 
racks (Schuylerville), on the Hudson river, June 
24th, 17S3, and at their first meeting in Rhode Island 
in the Senate chamber of the State House, Provi- 
dence, upon their arrival home, Major-General Na- 
thanael Greene was elected, December 17, 1783, Presi- 
dent of the society and presided at the meeting and 



58 XATHANAEL GREENE. 

continued to be re-elected President at everj^ annual 
meeting thereafter up to and including that of July 
4th, 1785, at which he presided for the last time over 
the society's deliberations in the Senate chamber of 
the State House, Newport, prior to setting sail for 
Savannah, Georgia. 

That subsequently, while still President of this so- 
ciety, Major-General Greene died at his plantation of 
Mulberr}' Grove, near Savannah, Georgia, on June 19, 
1 786, and his remains were subsequently entombed in 
one of the Colonial vaults in the Colonial cemeter}^ of 
Savannah, with suitable militar)' and civic ceremonies. 

No tablet having been placed upon the vault, in 
course of years, and with the early decease, from the 
vicissitudes of climate or Revolutionary service, of 
those who had been present at his obsequies, record 
was lost for a hundred and fourteen years of the 
actual place of burial. 

That in 18 iS public-spirited citizens of Savannah, 
Georgia, began to collect subscriptions for a monu- 
ment to this great man, and eventually an obelisk was 
erected in Jackson square. Savannah, which was the 
first monument to his memory erected in the United 
States, and is a fitting tribute to one of Rhode Island's 
greatest citizens. 

Your memorialists further respectfully represent 
that last year, the society having ascertained that no 
thorough and S5\stematic search had ever been made 
for General Greene's remains, and that the subject 
was being discussed in the Savannah press, deter- 
mined that it was their duty, on behalf of the people 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 59 

of Rhode Island, and in deference to the wishes of 
their late Venerable President, the Honorable Na- 
thanael Greene, M. D., LL. D., that a proper inquiry 
should be made which should be so thorough as to 
leave no further doubt. 

Thereupon, your memorialists appointed a com- 
mittee, consisting of citizens among the most eminent 
in the cit}^ of Savannah, Georgia, together with the 
President of the society as chairman, to make the 
proper investigations. 

The eminent citizens constituting this committee 
were as follows : 

Hon. George Anderson Mercer, A. M., 

President, Georgia Historical Society. 

Hon. Walter G. Charlton, A. M., 
President, Georgia Society Sons of the Revolution. 

Hon. Philip D. Baffin, 
President, Park and Tree Commissioit of Savannah, Ga. 

Hon. William Harden, A. M., 

Secretary, Georgia Society Sons of the Revolution. 

Mr. Alfred Bearing Harden, A. B., IvL. B. 

Member, South Carolina State Society of the Cincinnati. 

The necessary investigation was carefully con- 
ducted, a report of which has already been submitted 
to you. This involved certain necessary expenditures. 

Under the institution of the Societ}' of the Cincin- 
nati, subscribed on May loth, 1783, by General 
Washington and by Major-Generals Nathanael 



60 NATHAXAEL GREENE. 

Greene, Benjamin Lincoln, Henry Knox, L,aFayette, 
Baron de Steuben, William Moultrie, Francis Marion, 
Thomas Mifflin, Horatio Gates, John Sullivan, Wil- 
liam Smallwood, and the other great historic char- 
acters of the War of the Revolution, a permanent fund 
was created in every State societ}^ by the contribution 
of one month's pay of the Continental officer, only 
the interest upon which could be appropriated to the 
beneficial objects of the society. 

In the Rhode Island State society, consequent!)'', 
the fund thus arising is used for the purpose of aiding 
the descendants of Rhode Island Continental officers 
who may be in indigent circumstances. 

In several of the State societies this fund is large, 
and these little pensions to old ladies and dependent 
children have been of incalculable benefit. 

In Rhode Island, from fortuitous circumstances in 
past years, the fund is but small ; but among its ben- 
eficiaries is a venerable octogenarian minister of the 
gospel whose grandfather, a graduate of Brown Uni- 
versity, was a Rhode Island Continental officer and an 
original member of the societ3^ 

It was this fund which was drawn upon for the 
necessary disbursements in making tloe above-men- 
tioned inquiry. 

In the incorporation of this societ)' by the Rhode 
Island General Assembly, on February 28th, 1814, 
for beneficial objects, the institution of 1783 was 
recognized. 

Since the discovery of Major-General Greene's re- 
mains, and their temporar}^ deposit in the vault of the 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 61 

Southern Bank of Georgia, 3-our memorialists have 
done nothing toward final interment, in order that 
you might have the opportunity of expressing your 
wishes in this behalf. 

The time has now come, in the opinion of your 
memorialists, when final action should be taken ; and 
it is respectfully proposed, with your concurrence, 
that Major-General Greene's remains shall be placed 
under the monument in Jackson Square, Savannah, 
Georgia. 

His descendants have been communicated with, 
and a considerable majority of them express a desire 
that this proposed action should be taken. 

Your memorialists propose that the highly respect- 
able committee which had charge of the inquiry on 
behalf of this State society, and which has the confi- 
dence of the people of the State of Georgia, shall take 
charge of the arrangements necessary for final inter- 
ment, inviting the co-operation of the State and munic- 
ipal authorities and of the several patriotic associ- 
ations. And 3'our memorialists desire that said 
committee shall represent, not only this State societ}' 
in this patriotic duty, but also the State of Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations. 

If it were possible for a committee of the General 
Assembly also to attend, your memorialists are per- 
suaded that it would be appreciated most highly by 
the people of Georgia, and they could unite with the 
above-named committee as constituting the actual 
Committee of Arrangements. 

In this behalf your memorialists respectfully solicit 



i'r2 NATHAXAEL GREENE. 

that such reasonable appropriation be made b}' the 
General Assemblj- as will re-imburse the society for 
the necessary disbursements already incurred, to be 
restored to the beneficial purposes for which origi- 
nally intended, and for such further necessar}- dis- 
bursements as may be incurred by the above-named 
committee in the final interment of Major-General 
Greene's remains under the monument in Jackson 
Square. These expenses to be regulated, as hereto- 
fore, b}' the strictest economy, but commensurate 
with what is due the occasion. 

And your memorialists will ever pra}-. 

ASA BIRD GARDINER, 

President. 
George W. Olney, 

Secretary. 

[Inclosire Copy ] , 
SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI 

IN THE 

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 
Office of the President. 

New York, April 7th, 1902. 
Hon. George Anderson Mercer, 
Hon. Walter G. Charlton,^ 
Hon. Phieip D. Daffin, 
Hon. William Harden, 
Mr. i\LFRED Dearing Harden, 
Of the committee to ascertain the location of the remains 
of Majoj'-General A^athanael Greene. 
Gentlemen : — Last 3'ear the Society of the Cincin- 
nati in the State of Rhode Island and Providence 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 03 

Plantations was honored b}- ^-oiir acceptance of its re- 
quest to act, with its President, as a committee to 
ascertain the location, in Savannah, of the remains of 
Major-General Nathanael Greene, its President from 
1783 until his decease in 1786. 

The successful manner in which 3'ou performed 
this patriotic duty merited, and received, the grateful 
thanks, not onl}' of the societ}-, but of the patriotic 
people of Rhode Island and Georgia and of the United 
States in general. 

Since then, as a matter of punctilious courtesy, the 
society has delaj-ed action as to final disposition of the 
remains, in order that the Governor and General 
Assembl}' of the State of Rhode Island might, when 
it met, have the opportunity of expressing its senti- 
ments upon the subject, for the reason that Major- 
General Nathanael Greene was a native of the State, 
where his ancestor had assisted Roger Williams in the 
foundation of the colony, and where he had always 
been credited on its quota in the War of the Revolu- 
tion, and where he had for several 3'ears been a mem- 
ber of its General Assembly. 

The President of the society, in his report on this 
interesting subject, at the meeting held pursuant 
to law in the Senate chamber, State House, Newport, 
Jul}^ 4th, 1901, concluded as follows : 

" In an}' final determination, the Rhode Island 
State Society of the Cincinnati proposes to make no 
suggestion, but to leave the subject wholh' with 
Major-General Greene's direct descendants, after due 
consultation, as seems most suitable, with the Gover- 



64: NATHANAEL GREENE. 

iiors of the States of Rhode Island and Georgia, re- 
spectively." 

This conclusion was unanimously approved by the 
society. 

The descendants of Major-General Greene have 
since been communicated with, through the courtesy 
oi Robert Tyler Waller, Esqr., who rendered such 
valuable service to your committee, and a large ma- 
jority have expressed their desire that the remains of 
Major-General Greene shall be finally deposited under 
the beautiful obelisk erected to his menior}^ in Jack- 
son Square, by patriotic citizens of Savannah. 

The Rhode Island State Society of Cincinnati has, 
heretofore, sedulously refrained from expressing any 
opinion in this behalf ; but the time has now come 
when it may appropriately do so, and the sentiment is 
that the appropriate place for final interment is under 
the monument in Jackson Square. 

The General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations adjourned yesterday. 

The object, therefore, of this communication is 
to request, by direction of the society, the particular 
favor that you conclude your valued labors as the 
committee in charge of the remains of Major-General 
Greene by making all necessary arrangements for 
their proper interment under the monument in Jackson 
Square, and that to this end you invite the co-opera- 
tion of the Governor and Legislature of the State of 
Georgia, as far as may be practicable, and the particu- 
lar assistance of the municipal authorities of the city 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 65 

of Savannah, and the Society of Cincinnati in the State 
of South Carolina, and active co-operation of all 
patriotic associations in Savannah and vicinity, not 
forgetting, in this connection, the old Chatham 
Artillery. 

In the local details of these arrangements and 
requests for co-operation or invitations preliminary to 
the ceremonies, the President of the society, by reason 
of distance from Savannah, finds himself, with deep 
regret, unable activelj^ to participate; and the society, 
therefore, respectfully requests Colonel Mercer to act 
as vice-chairman in this behalf. 

The society invokes the earnest support and aid of 
the citizens of Georgia to your committee, to render 
the final obsequies of Major-General Greene propor- 
tionately as imposing and appreciative at this day as 
the}-- were in 1786. 

The society further respectfully suggests that all 
descendants of Major-General Greene be especially 
invited to attend, and that Mr. Robert Tyler Waller's 
valued assistance be invoked as far as possible. 

By order of the societ)', 

ASA BIRD GARDINER, 

President. 
George W. Olney, 
Sec7xtary . 



^ 




Nathanael Greene. 



"This portrait of Nathanael Greene, a Major-General in the American 
Revolution, was originally the property of his family. On his removal to 
Georgia it was left in possession of his niece Mary Greene (who was married 
to Benjamin Sumner, Merchant, Boston), daughter of Judge Jacob Greene, 
of Coventry, R. I. At her decease the picture fell into possession of her 
daughter Margaret Greene Sumner (who married Geo. B. Proctor, of Boston), 
and was by her given to her son, Benjamin S. Proctor, the present owner, 
Jan. I, 1852." 

This picture, done in pastel, is now in the Sayles Memorial Hall Gallery, 
Brown University, Providence, R. I., and has the above inscription pasted 
on the back. 

In an article in the Proi'idence Daily Journal, December 17, 1870, relating to the various portraits 
ot General Greene, the following reference to this portrait is made : " '1 he earliest portrait ot Greene 
has no claim to attention as a work of art. It is neither well drawn nor well painted, and conveys no 
idea of the countenance that we find on the canvas of Trumbull and Peale. The name of the painter 
is not known, and it might safely be passed over in silence were it not that it was a gift from Gen- 
eral Greene to a favorite niece in whose family it has been carefully preserved. 



Major-General Nathanael Greene 



HIS BIRTH, DEATH, AND BURIAL 
AND THE DISCOVERY AND 
RE -INTERMENT OF HIS REMAINS. 



PREPARED AT THE REQUEST OF THE JOINT SPECIAL COMMITTEE 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND 
AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS, APPOINTED TO TAKE INTO CON- 
SIDERATION THE RE-INTERMENT OF THE REMAINS OF GENERAL 
NATHANAEL GREENE. 



BY 

EDWARD FIELD 

Secretary of the Comniitiee. 



/' 



Prefatory Note. 



Ill March, 1902, I was directed by the Joint Special 
Committee of the General Assembly, appointed to 
take into consideration the permanent location of the 
remains of General Nathanael Greene, to proceed to 
the city of Savannah, Ga., for the purpose of inquiring 
into the facts connected with their discovery. 

In accordance with these directions I visited that 
city, made such inquiry as to the discovery and 
authenticity of the remains as I believed necessary 
for the purpose, and upon returning reported to the 
committee that the remains found by the committee 
of the Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati 
were without doubt those of that distinguished Rhode 
Islander and officer of the Revolution. Subsequently 
I was directed to prepare for the use of the committee 
such an account of Nathanael Greene as would be 
pertinent to the matter with which this committee of 
the General Assemblj- was charged. In the follow- 
ing pages I have endeavored to correct the errors 
which writers on this subject have made relative to 
the date of birth of General Greene ; to relate the cir- 
cumstances of his sickness, death, and burial ; to show 
the attempts made at different times to discover the 
place of burial of his remains ; to explain the de- 
tails of their discovery and the means by which these 



70 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

remains were identified : to this is added a full ac- 
count of the proceedings attending their re-interment 
at Savannah, on November 14, 1902. 

In the preparation of this work, I have been assisted 
by many persons within and without this State. To all 
such persons I wish to express my profound thanks 
for their many courtesies and generous assistance. 

I am particularly under obligations to Alfred Bear- 
ing Harden, Esq., and to Mr. Robert Tyler Waller, 
both of Savannah, Georgia, for many kindnesses 
while in that city and during the time in which 
I have been engaged in this work. I also desire to 
express my appreciation of the great assistance 
afforded me by Mrs. Edward Karow, Regent of Sa- 
vannah Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolu- 
tion ; Hon. Herman Meyers, Mayor ; Hon. William 
Harden, Librarian of the Georgia Historical Society ; 
Mr. Otis Ashmore. Superintendent of Public Schools ; 
Maj. Philip D. Baffin, Chairman of the Park and 
Tree Commission ; Mr. William H. Robertson, chief 
clerk of that commission, all of Savannah, and to 
Col. Asa Bird Gardiner of New York. My thanks 
are due and are here extended to His Excellencj' 
Charles Bean Kimball, Governor, and to the mem- 
bers of the Joint Special Committee having this 
matter in charge, for their generous support and co- 
operation in the work devolving upon me as secre- 
tary of this committee. 

EDWARB FIELB. 

Providence, R. I., January, 1903. 



Major-General Nathanael Greene. 



Nathanael Greene, son of Nathanael and 
Mary (Mott) Greene, was born in the town of 
Warwick, Rhode Island, in the district known 
as Potowomut Neck, " on the twenty-seventh 
day of the fifth month, 1742, about one or two 
o'clock in the afternoon of the third day of the 
week," which, according to the method em- 
ployed in reckoning time at this date, would 
correspond to August 7, 1742.' 

'"Concerning the exact date of the birth of Gen. Na- 
thanael Greene of Revolutionary fame, there are certain 
discrepancies in the various reference books upon biography 
that deserve notice, and, if possible, correction. The date 
given by most of these authorities is May 27, 1742. Some 
give June 6, 1742, while one, at least (Savage), gives May 22, 
1742. Other dates, which seem to be evident errors, are also 
noted." 

"In view of the fact that there has been preserved 'a 
MS. Genealogy of the Greene Family, compiled by Gen. 
Greene, I am told by a member of the family, though the 
indorsement says by Gen. Greene's father ; ' (see Life of 
Maj.-Gen. Greene, by G. W. Greene, Vol. I, p. 4; note also 
p. 579) it would seem that this authority would at once set 
the matter at rest, but certain apparent inconsistencies in the 
dates given in the genealogy still leave the matter in doubt 



. -2 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

On July 20, 1774, Nathanael Greene was 
united in marriage to Catherine Littlefield, 
daughter of John Littlefield, of the town of New 
Shoreham ; the ceremony taking place at the 

until more light is thrown upon the subject. This authority, 
which we would naturally accept with the most confidence, 
says that Nathanael Greene ' was born the twenty-seventh day 
of the fifth month, 1742, about one or two o'clock in the after- 
noon of the third day of the week.' Gen. Greene's father, 
as is well known, was a Quaker preacher, and in this entry 
we recognize the well-known numerical nomenclature given 
by that religious sect to dates. Here we have the date of 
Gen. Greene's birth stated with apparently great exact- 
ness, viz., Tuesday, May 27, 1742, according to our mode of 
expression." 

"The difficulty, however, is in the fact that May 27, 1742, 
did not fall on Tuesday, but on Thursday, if we reckon, as 
we doubtless should do, in the old style, the new style not 
being adopted in this country till 1752. If we reckon in ac- 
cordance with the new style. May 27, 1742, fell on Sunday, 
which also does not agree with the record. Where, then, is 
the error ? Is there a clerical or typographical error in this 
particular entry in the record ? Let us examine this point. 

" This same genealogy gives the dates of several of the 
births of Gen. Greene's brothers with the s^lme exactness, 
and also the date of the death of Gen. Greene's mother. 
This last entry is given in new style, which is specially signifi- 
cant as indicating that the previous entries were very prob- 
ably made in old style. This is all the more probable because 
the new style was not adopted in this country till 1752. The 
record is expressed in each case in the usual numerical cus- 
tom noted above 

"It is well known that the reformed calendar, known as 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 73 

residence of Hon. William Greene, in the town 
of East Greenwich. This house is still stand- 
ing, and is owned by Hon. William G. Roelker, 
a descendant of its former owner.^ 

new style, was adopted in Great Britain and America on Jan. 
I, 1752. Previous to that time the civil year began on the 
day of the Annunciation, or March 25. The historical year, 
however, began on Jan. i. If now we assume that the entries 
made in the Greene manuscripts refer to March as the first 
month of the year, all apparent discrepancies are completely 
harmonized. There is indeed no straining of facts in this 
assumption, for at that time it was the general custom, both 
in this country and England, to begin the civil year with 
March 25 and to consider March the first month of the year." 

" If the record had given the name of the month instead of 
its number, there would have been no room for being misled. 
When the record tells us that Nathanael Greene was born in 
1742, on the 27th day of the fifth month, we naturally think 
that the fifth month was May, for that is the fifth month, 
reckoning January as the first month. But when we consider 
March as the first month, as was doubtless the custom at that 
time, the fifth month was July. So that the true date of Na- 
thanael Greene's birth is July 27, 1742, instead of May 27, 
1742, which is generally given in biographical works. 

"This date, thus corrected, and transformed, is still in old 
style, and it harmonizes perfectly with the day of the week, 
given in the record ; for July 27, 1742, occurred on Tuesday, 
which is the third day of the week." 

"The fact that the assumption here made, that March was 



- State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the 
End of the Century, Field, Vol. 3, p. 612, where is an account 
of this historic house. 



74 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

At the close of the Revolutionary War, in 
which he had borne so conspicuous a part, 
General Greene returned to Rhode Island, 
where he was most heartily welcomed. 



considered the first month of the year, harmonizes perfectly 
with all the other entries made in this record (except the last, 
which is expressly made in the new style), and that no other 
assumption will thus harmonize these dates, seems to be con- 
clusive evidence in favor of the truth of this assumption. If 
this be true, and there seems to be no escaping from it, then 
the date commonly given for the birth of Gen. Nathanael 
Greene is in error by two months. July 27, 1742, old style, 
corresponds to Aug. 7, 1742, new style. 

" An illustration of the relation between new style and old 
style is given in the birthday of Gen. Washington, which oc- 
curred, in old style, on Feb. 11. This corresponds to Feb. 
22, new style, and this is the day we celebrate. 

" The date June 6, 1742, given by one of the authorities for 
Gen. Greene's birth, was probably suggested by a note on 
page 5 of the 'Life of Maj.-Gen. Nathanael Greene, by G. 
W. Greene,' in which the author makes an error in trans- 
forming the date. May 27, O. S., to the corresponding date, 
N. S. June 7 would be the corresponding date instead of 
June 6, but it has been shown above that May 27 is incorrect ; 
and hence the corresponding date, June 6 or 7, is also wrong. 

" The error here pointed out is significant in interpreting 
and transforming into our present style of reckoning all 
dates recorded in the Quaker style of numerical reckoning in 
which the number of the month is given instead of the name 
of the month. The point is of special interest to those con- 
cerned in Quaker history, for without understanding it much 
confusion would result." 

"It is a little curious, as it is fortunate, that the quaint 



XATHANAEL GREENE. io 

He arrived at Newport, November 25, 1783, 
and established himself at a house on Mill 
street, then owned by Colonel Archibald Crary, 
and later by Governor Gibbs, and now owned 
and occupied by Hon. F. P. Garrettson.' 

He had served his country well for a long 
period of years, during which he had borne all 
the hardships of service in the field, and the 
end for which he had given up those years 
being attained, he retired to private life ; and 



custom of the Quakers of mentioning the day of the week by 
number in their records affords a certain clew to the true 
dates of their records, whereas tlie omission of this seemingly 
insignificant point would often leave all in doubt." (From a 
paper read before the Georgia Historical Society by Mr. Otis 
Ashmore, and printed in the Savannah (Ga.) Morjting News, 
April 4, iSgg.) 

^ "In 1783. Gen. Greene arrived at his residence, now 
that of Gibbs family, November 25th, and received public 
congratulations, and also congratulations from the General 
Assembly ; in 17S5, he sailed for Savannah with his family, 
October 14, intending to reside in Georgia." (Barbour's 
Chronology, 1S24, in Newport Historical Society.) 

Gen. Greene never owned this property, but rented it 
from Col. Crary, its owner. The property afterwards was 
owned by Governor Gibbs, who lived there many years and 
died there. Joseph Tuckerman, a wealthy Bostonian, subse- 
quently purchased the property from the Gibbs heirs, and the 
house was remodeled about 1SS4; in 1900 the house was pur- 



( 6 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

though often urged to accept high and honor- 
able public office, he firmly, but politely, de- 
clined to do so. He had been deprived all 
these years of the companionship of his wife 
and family, and he felt that he was entitled 
to enjoy that privacy which his domestic 
nature craved. His most conspicuous service 
had been in the Southern department, in- 
cluding the States of North and South Caro- 
lina and Georgia; and on account of the 
successes achieved by his great genius as a 
military commander, the people of those States, 
to show their high sense of appreciation of his 
great service to them, made him munificent 
gifts. The General Assembly of North Caro- 
lina, on April 13, 1782, presented to him twen- 
ty-five thousand acres of land on the Duck 
river.^ 



chased by Hon. F. P. Garrettson, its present owner. Owing 
to the imperfect condition of the early records of Newport, it 
is impossible to trace the early ownership of the property, but 
tradition asserts that it was once owned by Judah Touro, a 
rich Portuguese merchant and a former resident of Newport. 
It is also stated that the house is modeled in some of 
its details after the famous Hancock house formerly standing 
in Boston. (From a letter of Hon. F. P. Garrettson to the 
author.) 

' Appendix A. 




p^ 



^ 


a. 


a: 


Is 


^ 


OJ 


3h 


;^< 










w 


c 


?^ 


■^ 




OJ 


- 


o 










w 


OJ 


M 


•^ 



X c 



H c 



XATHANAEL GREENE. 1 i 

The people of South Carolina presented him 
with an estate on the river Edisto valued at 
ten thousand pounds sterling,' while the State 
of Georgia, on January i8, 1783, gave to him 
a tract of land containing two thousand one 
hundred and seventy acres, known by the name 
of Mulberry Grove, on the Savannah river, 
formerly the plantation estate of John Graham, 
Lieutenant-Governor of Georgia, and which 
had been confiscated by that State.^ 

He remained at Newport until October 14, 
1785, when he returned to Georgia and took 
up his residence at the Mulberry Grove planta- 
tion, fourteen miles from Savannah, on the 
south side of the Savannah river, it beino- the 
estate that had been presented to him by 
the State of Georma. One of his biogra- 
phers'^ says, regarding his life at Mulberry 
Grove: "His time was altogether devoted to 
the education of a charming family, the cultiva- 
tion of his land, and the paternal care of his 
slaves. The intervals of his more serious em- 



^ Memoirs of the Life and Campaigns of the Hon. Nathaniel 
Greene, by Charles Caldwell, M. D., Philadelphia, iSig, pp. 
395-396- 

- Appendix B. 

' Johnson's Life of Xathanael Greene, Vol. 2, page 41S. 



•78 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 






z " s 



ployments were agree- 
ably filled up by a select 
library and a spirited 
and endearing corres- 
pondence with his nu- 
merous friends, as well 
in Europe as America. 
His late arrangements 
had greatly narrowed 
down his plans in life, 
but he still had the 
prospect of competence, 
and gave himself up, 
without reserve, to the 
enjoyments of a social 
fireside and the in- 
terchange of civilities 
with his numerous and 
wealthy neighbors. It 
is obvious, from the 
correspondence of this 
date, that his spirits 
were raised ; his resi- 
dence was a delightful 
one, and he describes 
it with all the vivacity 
with which a Roman 



NATHAXAEL GREENE. 79 

voluptuaiy would describe his villa. In No- 
vember, soon after his arrival, he writes: 'We 
found the house, situation, and out-buildings, 
more convenient and pleasing than we ex- 
pected. The prospect is delightful, and the 
house magnificent. We have a coach-house 
and stables, a large out-kitchen, and a poultry 
house nearly fifty-feet long, and twenty wide, 
parted for different kinds of poultry, with 
a pigeon-house on the top, which will contain 
not less than a thousand pigeons. Besides 
these, there are several other buildings con- 
venient for a family, and among the rest, a fine 
smoke-house. The garden is in ruins, but 
there are still a variety of shrubs and fiowers 
in it.' And again, in the month of April follow- 
ing: 'This is the busy time with us, and I can 
^afford but a small portion of time to write. We 
are planting. We have got upwards of sixty 
acres of corn planted, and expect to plant one 
hundred and thirty of rice. The garden is de- 
lightful. The fruit-trees and flowering shrubs 
form a pleasing variety. We have green peas 
almost fit to eat, and as fine lettuce as ever you 
saw. The mocking birds surround us evening 
and morning. The weather is mild and the 
vegetable kingdom progressing to perfection. 



80 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

But it is a great deduction from the pleasure 
we should feel from the beauties and con- 
veniences of the place, that we are obliged to 
leave it before we shall have tasted of several 
kinds of fruit. We have in the same orchard 
apples, pears, peaches, apricots, nectarines, 
plums of different kinds, figs, pomegranates, 
and oranges. And we have strawberries which 
measure three inches round. All these are 
clever, but the want of our friends to enjoy them 
with us, renders them less interesting.' 

' It was the will of Heaven that his body 
should be laid in the tomb before the fruit then 
blossoming had attained to maturity.' " 

On Monday, the 12th of June, 1786, General 
Greene's presence was required at Savannah. 
He made this journey accompanied by his 
wife, and visited the home of Major Nathaniel 
Pendleton, who had been one of his aids during 
the war, and with whom there existed a deep 
friendship; here they passed thfe night. The 
next morning they started early on their way 
home, for they intended to spend the day at 
the house of Mr. William Gibbons. They 
arrived at the Gibbons plantation early in the 
morning, and after breakfast the gentlemen 
walked into the rice-field tosjether, to view the 




e 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 81 

progress of Mr. Gibbons' crop, in which 
General Greene was much interested. The 
sun was intensely hot, but General Greene had 
been too long a soldier to fear any danger from 
the hot southern sun. On his way home in the 
evening he complained of a severe pain in the 
head ; on Wednesday it still continued. On 
Thursday the pain increased greatly, particu- 
larly over the eyes ; and the forehead appeared in- 
flamed and swollen. Major Pendleton for, 
tunately arrived on a visit ; and an obvious de- 
pression of spirits and reluctance to join in 
conversation, which marked the conduct of the 
general, exciting his apprehensions, a Dr. Brickel 
was sent for. In the morning of Friday the 
physician arrived, took a little blood and ad- 
ministered some ordinary prescriptions; but the 
'inflammation obviously increasing, another 
physician, a Dr. M'Cloud, was called into con- 
sultation. The disease had now assumed an 
alarming aspect, and it was resolved to blister 
the temples and take blood freely. But it 
proved too late ; the head had swollen greatly, 
and the patient sunk into a total stupor, from 
which he never revived. Early on the morn- 
ing of Monday, the 19th, he died. 

General Anthony Wayne, whose plantation 



82 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

was not far distant, hearing of the illness of 
his friend, hastened to his bedside and was 
with him when he died. 

" I have often wrote you," wrote Wayne 
to Colonel James Jackson, "but never on so 
distressing an occasion. My dear friend Gen- 
eral Greene is no more. He departed this 
morning, at six o'clock, A. M. He was great 
as a soldier, greater as a citizen, immaculate 
as a friend. His corpse will be at Major Pen- 
dleton's this night, the funeral from thence in 
the evening. The honors, the greatest honors, 
of war are due his remains. You, as a soldier, 
will take the proper order on this melancholy 
affair. Pardon this scrawl ; my feelings are 
too much affected because I have seen a great 
and a good man die." ' 

When the news of his death reached Savan- 
nah, it produced unusual sorrow, affecting all 
classes of the people. Preparations were 
hastily made to do full honors to the memory 
of the distinguished man, and to surround the 
obsequies with all the dignity and ceremony 
befittinor his hioh character and rank. 



1 Life of Major-General Nathanael Greene, by George 
Washington Greene, Vol. 3, p. 534. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 83 

General Greene died on Monday morning, 
June 19, 1786, at 6 o'clock. On Tuesday his 
body was taken by water to Savannah and 
landed in front of the house of Major Pendle- 
ton, which formerly stood on Bay street next 
to the corner of Barnard street.^ 

It was at this house that he had spent the 
night only a week before, and from which he 
had set out on the journey terminating in his 
death. 

In front of this house the militia, represent- 
atives of the municipality, members of the 
Society of the Cincinnati, and many persons in 
private and official life received the body. The 
shipping in the harbor had their colors half- 
masted, the shops and stores in the town were 
shut, and the people throughout the town sus- 
pended their labors, all uniting in giving tes- 
timony of the deepest sorrow. At about five 
o'clock in the afternoon the funeral procession 
proceeded from the Pendleton house to the 
Colonial cemetery belonging to Christ's 
Church ; the artillery in Fort Wayne firing 

^ This house was demolished some years ago, but it is 
stated some of the timbers of the old house were used in the 
construction of the present building on the spot. (Letter of 
Hon. \Villiam Harden of Savannah, Ga., to the author.) 



84 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

minute-guns as the long line advanced, the 
band playing the solemn " Dead March in 
Saul." When the funeral procession had 
reached the burial ground, where a vault had 
been opened, the regiment filed off to right 
and left, resting on their arms, with faces 
turned inwards, till the cofifin and pall bearers 
and long train of mourning citizens had passed 
through. Then the Hon. William Stevens, 
judge of the Supreme Court of Chatham county 
and Grand Master of the Masonic fraternity, 
in the absence of a clergyman, for none were in 
the town at the time, took his stand by the head 
of the coffin, and with tremulous voice read the 
funeral service of the Church of England. 
Then the body was placed in the vault, the 
files closed, and marching up to the right of 
the vault, gave three general discharges ; the 
artillery fired thirteen rounds, and with trailed 
arms all slowly and silently withdrew.^ 

Although so large a number of people at- 
tended the funeral obsequies and participated 
in the deep sorrow which followed the death of 
this distinguished man, and notwithstanding 
the fact that no man was more highly regarded 

^ Appendix C. 







<u 



CO 






W r- 



r/i 












w ^ r- I-- 






r^ L_ *-■ 



t^ ?i a- 






53 ir " 



C (U O J:; 






NATHANAEL GREENE. 85 

or nearer to the hearts of the people than Gen- 
eral Greene, in a little more than thirty years 
the place of his burial was unknown. 

That this was the subject of comment is 
shown by the reference to it by a learned 
writer, ^ as well as by the action of the town of 
Savannah; for, as early as 1819, efforts were 
made to ascertain the resting-place of the re- 
mains of General Greene, and on July 26 of 
that year the council of Savannah took action 
relative to the subject. At this time it was 
stated : 

" The frequent inquiries made by citizens and 
strangers ' Where lie the remains of the gal- 
lant General Greene, who died and was buried 
in your city,' and the acknowledged want of 
information on the subject imply a neglect 
'highly reproachful to the known patriotism and 
feelings of the inhabitants, and whereas, it 
would be desirable, and in fact, almost our duty, 
to satisfy public curiosity in this instance and 
thereby give an opportunity to the people of 

^ " To the disgrace of the nation no monument has been 
erected, nor, for want of a headstone, or other memorial, can 
anyone, at present, designate the spot, where the relics of the 
Hero of the South lie interred." (Memoirs of the Life and 
Campaigns of the Hon. Nathanael Greene, by Charles Cald- 
well, M. D., Philadelphia, 1819, p, 399.) 



86 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

this State, among whom the General lived and 
died, to testify a share of their gratitude for the 
noble and important services rendered in the 
Revolution by this great and eminent soldier 
and patriot, and tho' this be done late it is yet 
but a common respect to his memory for this 
body to claim his precious remains and remove 
them from the vault where they are now sup- 
posed to be deposited and mingling with those 
in no wise akin to him, and have them interred 
under the order, sanction and special pro- 
tection of this board so as to enable the Legis- 
lature or the public hereafter to erect some 
monument worthy the memory of this great 
and good man." ^ 

On motion of Alderman Harris it was 
unanimously resolved, " That the Mayor and 
Aldermen Harris and Ash be a committee to 
ascertain by all means in their power, the vault 
where the remains of General Greene have 
been deposited and on identifying the same to 
have such remains placed in a ne^ mahogany 
coffin and thereupon report to council for their 
further proceedings on this interesting subject." 
It was resolved further that this decision of 



1 A History of the City Government of Savannah from 
1790 to 1900, by Thomas Gamble, Jr., p. 124. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. b»i 

council should be "communicated to the repre- 
sentatives of the deceased who may now be in 
the State, and also to the proprietors of the 
vault to be opened, to obtain leave for the com- 
mittee to carry this resolution into effect." 
The committee was authorized to draw on the 
treasurer for any expenses incurred for this 
object and that the treasurer pay the same. 
This committee failed to ascertain where the 
remains of the General lay, and on November 
29, 18 19, when another administration had as- 
sumed charge of the affairs of the city, the com- 
mittee was revived for this purpose, with Alder- 
man Ash still a member of it. As far as the 
records of the city council show, the committee 
never reported, and it is presumed failed to se- 
cure the information sought. 

In the columns devoted to the news of the 
day in the Providence Jo2irnal of March 31, 
1825, the editor states: "Measures have been 
taken in Savannah for the erection of a mon- 
ument to the memories of Greene and Pulaski, 
the cornerstone of which Gen. Lafayette has 
been requested to lay with Masonic ceremony. 
We were a witness some years since to a laud- 
able attempt made by the authorities of Savan- 
nah to discover the remains of Gen. Greene in 



88 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

a tomb of the public burying ground, where 
they had been deposited, with a view to re-inter 
them with appropriate honor: but such had 
been the rapid process of decay, not a vestige 
of what could be identified, even to the dust of 
the coffin, could be found after the most dili- 
gent search." 

In connection with this statement, " Mr. 
William Harden, librarian of the Georgia His- 
torical Society, who had made researches for 
some years with a view of securing clews that 
would lead to the discovery of the resting-place 
of General Greene, continued his investiga- 
tions, and on March 12 (1901) announced that 
he had become satisfied that the vault in which 
the remains were found was not that of the 
Jones family, but the one belonging to the 
Mossmans, to whom the vault had been re- 
stored and who had not, as tradition had it, 
removed the body of General Greene. Where 
placed in 1786, there the body, Mr. Harden 
declared, had remained undisturbed until 1901. 

" In the vault, just before the discovery of 
what is supposed to be the Greene coffin-plate, 
a coffin-plate was found bearing the name 
Robert Scott. This Scott, it appears, married 
Miss Margaret Oliver, the niece of James 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 89 

Mossman. On his death, in 1845, Scott was 
buried in the Mossman vault. Philip Young, 
nephew of James Mossman, died in June, 18 19, 
and as at the time there was an epidemic of 
yellow-fever in Charleston, with Savannah in 
an extremely sickly state, Mr. Harden's con- 
clusion is that the aldermanic committee did 
not open this vault owing to his body having 
been recently placed therein," and hence the 
search referred to by the correspondent of the 
Providence Joiirual was not as complete as 
would be inferred from the item in that paper. 
In 1 82 1, wdien the Honorable William John- 
son, one of the associate justices of the Su- 
preme Court of the United States, published 
his splendid life of General Greene, he referred 
to the burial place in these words: "The 
funeral ceremony of the Church of England 
was read over the corpse by the Honorable 
William Stevens, as there was not at that time 
a minister of the gospel in the city. The 
body was then deposited in a vault, but the 
identical vault still remains a subject of inquiry. 
The graves and vaults are all disposed in reg- 
ular rows, and there are four contiguous vaults 
in one of these rows, one of which four, it is 
ascertained, the body was disposed in, but 



90 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

which of them still remains in doubt. A 
committee was appointed in 1820 (18 19) by 
the mayor and aldermen to search for the re- 
mains and deposit them, with due solemnity, 
in a fit receptacle ; and the committee have 
made diligent researches in several of the four 
designated vaults but were prevented, by un- 
avoidable obstacles, from extending the search 
at all. The coffin is distinguished, wherever it 
lies, by a plate of silver or brass, engraven with 
the name and age in the usual manner." ^ 

Judge Johnson had frequent conversations 
with Judge Stevens, who read the burial ser- 
vice, relative to the place of interment, and he 
repeatedly told Judge Johnson that "the body 
of General Greene lay in the tomb of the 
ones . ^ 

1 " Deposited in an unknown vault, the coflEin of Nathanael 
Greene was distinguished only by a small metallic plate, 
which in the usual manner bears the name and age of the 
occupant. Upon this plate rests the only hope of identifying 
the remains of our subject, the search for which, partially 
urged perhaps, has hitherto proved fruitless. (The Life of 
Nathanael Greene, Major-General in the Army of the Revo- 
lution, edited by W. Gilmore Simms, Esq., New York, Derby 
& Jackson 1849, p. 356.)" 

2 "Judge Stevens, who performed the funeral service, has 
repeatedly told the author, that the body of General Greene 
lay in the tomb of the Jones's. That tomb had not yet 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 91 

Subsequent investigation shows that even the 
person that read the funeral service, and who 
was more closely connected with the committal 
than anyone else, had forgotten entirely where 
this service took place. Judge Johnson further 
states that the Jones' tomb has not yet been 
searched, but there is much evidence to prove 
that it was placed, at first, in that of the Gra- 
hams', as an appendage to the confiscated 
estate conferred on him by Georgia, This 
vault afterward passed to the family of Moss- 
man, who married a sister of Mrs. Graham. 
From which he was induced to believe that it 
was removed under the orders of Mrs. Mossman, 
but whither is unknown, but that there was a 
possibility that it may have been removed to 
^ that of the Jones'. ^ 

been searched. But, there is much evidence to prove, that 
it was placed, at first, in that of the Graham's, as an append- 
age to the confiscated estate conferred on him by Georgia. 
This vault, afterwards, passed to the family of Mossman, who 
married a sister of Mrs. Graham. From which the author's 
inquiries induce him to believe, that it was removed under 
the orders of Mrs. Mossman, but whither is unknown. There 
is still a possibility, that it may have been removed to that 
of the Jones's," (Note in Johnson's Life of Nathanael Greene, 
Vol. 2, p. 421.) 

1 Note in Johnson's Life of Nathanael Greene, Vol. 2, 
p. 421. 



02 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

For more than eighty years no further at- 
tempt appears to have been made to ascertain 
where these remains were deposited ; but on 
the 28th of January, 1901, at a special meeting 
of the Society of Cincinnati in the State of 
Rhode Island, the following resolution was 
presented and adopted:^ 

" IV/iereas, after diligent inquiry, it is be- 
lieved that full investigation has never yet been 
made to ascertain definitely where the remains 
of Major-General Nathanael Greene, President 
of the Rhode Island Society of Cincinnati, were 
finally deposited after his decease at Mulberry 
Grove, near Savannah, Georgia, in 1786; and, 

" Whereas, it is believed that a thorough 
search of the four old burial vaults in the old 
cemetery now forming a part of Colonial Park 
in Savannah, Georgia, will determine whether 
the remains are deposited in one of the said 
vaults, as believed by persons well informed in 
matters of local history, or at a certain place in 
the said old graveyard, as insisted -by a vener- 
able citizen of the State of Georgia, who has 
for seventy years been a member of the 
Chatham Artillery company which acted as es- 
cort at Major-General Greene's funeral, such 
insistence being based on statements made to 

1 Appendix D. 



XATHAXAEL GREEXE. 93 

him by former members of said artillery organi- 
zation who had assisted at said funeral ; and, 

" W/iereas, it is particularly appropriate that 
the Society of Cincinnati in the State of Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations should do 
whatever may be necessary towards ascertain- 
ing the burial place of its first president, the 
great patriot and soldier, who, next to Washing- 
ton, aided so potentially in securing the in- 
dependence of the United States; 

" Resolved, by the said society, that one hun- 
dred dollars are hereby appropriated for the 
purpose of making the proposed inquiry, 

" Resolved, that the following: committee be 
appointed and respectfully asked to accept said 
appointment, to do all that is needful to carry 
out the intent of the above resolution, to wit: 

" Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner, LL.D., Presi- 
dent of the Rhode Island Cincinnati ; 

" Mr. Philip D. Daffin, chairman of the Sa- 
vannah Park and Tree Commission ; 

" Hon. Walter G. Charlton, President of the 
Society of Sons of the Revolution in the State 
of Georgia ; 

" Hon. George A. Mercer, President of the 
Georgia Historical Society; 

" Alfred Dearing Harden, Esq., member of 
of the South Carolina Society of the Cincin- 
nati; and 

" William Harden, Esq., Secretary of the 
Society of the Sons of the Revolution in the 



1)4: NATHANAEL GREENE. 

State of Georgia and Librarian of the Georgia 
Historical Societ)^" 

The high character of these gentlemen, and 
their prominence in the affairs of the city of 
Savannah and State of Georgia, may be better 
understood by the following personal references 
to them : Col. Mercer is an attorney at law, 
one of the oldest members of the Georgia bar, 
and known throughout the State as one of its 
most brilliant and learned men. On account 
of ill health he has been obliged to give up 
the active practice of his profession. Mr. 
Charlton is one of the leading attorneys at law 
in Savannah, actively interested in patriotic 
societies, and prominent in the affairs of the 
city. Mr. Dafifin is a cotton merchant, who 
for many years had intimate relations with 
Rhode Island merchants and manufacturers, 
and dealt largely with the A. & W. Sprague 
Co., B. B. & R. Knight, and others. He is a 
man of great public spirit, and has done much 
toward laying out and beautifying the exten- 
sive park system in Savannah. Hon. William 
Harden is a member of the Georgia Legisla- 
ture, librarian of the Georgia Historical So- 
ciety, which position he has held for more than 
thirty-seven years. He is a careful historian. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 95 

and thoroughly informed on the history of the 
city and State. His father was an attorney 
at law in Savannah, and counsel for Christ's 
Church, which corporation conveyed the cem- 
etery, in which the remains were found, to the 
city of Savannah. Mr. Alfred Dearing Har- 
den is an attorney at law, and was one of the 
most active members of this committee in the 
search for the remains of General Greene. 

All the gentlemen, residents of Savannah, 
had previously consented to serve on the com- 
mittee. 

It was not until the first of March that this 
committee began the work with which it was 
charged. On that day Colonel Gardiner, its 
chairman, arrived in Savannah and at once 
'entered upon the search. 

Contemporary records and well-founded tra- 
ditions had established the fact that the body 
of General Greene had been interred in what 
is known as the " old cemetery," or the 
" Colonial cemetery." 

This ancient burial place was established in 
1758 as the burying ground of Christ's 
Church.^ 

1 History of the City Government of Savannah, by Thomas 
Gamble, Jr., Secretary to the Mayor, 1900, p. 207. 



96 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

For nearly one hundred years, it being under 
the control of a Church of England, it was well 
kept ; a high brick wall surrounded the 
grounds, and it contained many substantial 
brick tombs wherein were deposited the re- 
mains of the honored dead of Savannah. In 
time, however, it fell into disuse, for burials 
there were prohibited by the city. It became 
overgrown with weeds, and its graves were en- 
tirely neglected. " Many tombs had fallen 
down from decay, and others had been broken 
into by boys and desecrated, in some instances 
bones beino- thrown around the orround. Grave- 
stones were prostrated and broken, and in 
many cases the dates upon them changed. The 
entire burial ground bore evidence of long neg- 
lect. Those laying claim to the ground were 
evidently averse to expending any money in its 
care ; and the city denied the right of owner- 
ship, likewise refrained from the expenditure of 
any money on the ' God's acre' Where the dust 
of the colonists and their descendants lay." ^ 

During the War of the Rebellion, when 
Sherman's army occupied Savannah after the 



^ History of the City Government of Savannah, Thomas 
Gamble, Jr., p. 3S7. 




Tomb within which the Remains of Gen. Greene were found, Colonial 
Park, Savannah, Ga. Photograph by Peter G. Leist. 



^ 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 97 

" march to the sea," this tract of land, as well 
as the various parks and squares in the city, 
were used as camping grounds for a portion of 
Sherman's army. Tents and rough shelters 
were set up, and even the tombs in this burying 
ground were occupied by the soldiers. 
Gen. Sherman, in his memoirs, says : 

^ " Mr. Stanton (Edwin M.) staid in Savannah 
several days, and seemed very curious about 
matters and things in general. I walked with 
him through the city, especially the bivouacs 
of the several regiments that occupied the 
vacant squares, and he seemed particularly 
pleased at the ingenuity of the men in con- 
structing their temporary huts. Four of the 
' dog tents,' or teiites aabi^i, buttoned together, 
served for a roof, and the sides were made of 
clapboards or rough boards brought from de- 
molished houses or fences. I remember his 
marked admiration for the hut of a soldier who 
had made his door out of a handsome parlor 
mirror, the glass gone and its gilt frame serving 
for his door." 

During those days of occupancy it is stated 
it was no uncommon sio^ht to see smoke, 
issuing from stove-pipes projecting from these 

1 Personal Memoirs of Gen'I W. T. Sherman, Vol. II, p. 244. 



98 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

tombs, from the fires kindled by the soldiers to 
cook their meals and heat these damp habita- 
tions. Most of the tombs were broken into for 
the double purpose of securing a lodging place 
and searching for the treasure and plate which 
it was supposed the inhabitants had secreted in 
them at the approach of the army. At the 
close of the war this ancient burial place w^as in 
a much more dilapidated condition than it had 
been for many years previous. 

In 1892, Mayor McDonough called attention 
to its condition in the following words : " the 
remains in the vaults therein are in many cases 
exposed to view, and the dilapidated condition 
of the vaults and surroundings are such as 
to impress one unfavorably in the extreme. It 
would be best to collect those remaining into 
one receptacle and place them in a portion 
of the cemetery where they would be undis- 
turbed, or remove them to another place of 
burial where they might rest freeii'om interfer- 
ence of persons who often find their way into 
the cemetery without permission and desecrate 
it. In its present condition the cemetery is an 
eye-sore, and will continue so as long as the 
question of title or the right of the city to im- 
prove it prevails. It would be much better if 



KATHANAEL GREENE. 99 

the old cemetery could be abandoned entirely 
as a relic, the wall removed, and the streets 
opened through it." ^ 

During the period from 1881 to 1S95 various 
attempts had been made to bring about a bet- 
ter condition of this ancient burial ground. On 
November 9, 1895, these efforts were brought 
to a successful termination by a decree of the 
Supreme Court of Chatham county, /// re 
" John Williamson ct aL, Complainants and The 
Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah 
Defendants, The Church Wardens and Vestry- 
men of the Episcopal Church in Savannah 
called the Christ Church complaint and the 
Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah 
Defdant " whereby the title of these grounds 
became vested in the city. Under the agree- 
ments made in consideration of this decree, the 
city obligated itself to preserve and forever 
perpetuate this tract of land as a public park 
under the title of " Colonial Park."^' 

This park was immediately placed under the 
direction of the Park and Tree Commission, 
which improved it by removing the wall, laying 

1 A History of the City Government of Savannali from 
1790 to 1900, by Thomas Gamble, Jr., p. 389. 
^ Appendix E. 



100 NATHAXAEL GREENE. 

out walks, planting trees and shrubbery, restor- 
ing the tombs, and generally renovating the 
grounds. Within this park was a tomb, 
formerly an appendage to the confiscated es- 
tate of Lieutenant-Governor John Graham, 
which had been given to General Greene by 
the State of Georgia as a testimonial of the 
love and affection of the people of that State 
and for his great service during the Revolu- 
tionary struggle. 

Immediately upon the arrival of Colonel 
Gardiner, the work of searching the tombs in 
these Q-rounds was undertaken in a most 
thorough and systematic manner, permission 
to do this having been obtained of His Honor 
Herman Meyers, Mayor of Savannah. ^ 

1 "Savannah. Ga., March ist, iqoi. 
" Messrs. William Harden, Alfred D. Harden and Wal- 
ter G. Charlton, City. 
"Gentlemen: — Repl3-ing to your communication of this 
date, requesting permission to open and ^xamine certain 
vaults in the Colonial Park, for which no living representatives 
of former owners can be found, permission is herewith given, 
subject to the consent of the Park and Tree Commission, to 
open the said three vaults provided no representatives of the 
owners can be found in the city or State, and that the vaults 
be restored after the examination to their former condition. 
"Very respectfully, 

"HERMAN MEYERS, 

" Mayor.''' 



NATHAXAEL GREENE. 101 

All the members of the committee entered 
with enthusiasm upon the work. Mr. Daffin 
placed his head clerk and assistant, Mr. William 
H. Robertson, in charge of the actual working 
force, which consisted of Charles C. Gattman 
and Edward M. Keenan, all trusted employees 
of the Park and Tree Commission. 

During the search Colonel Gardiner was 
continuously present, and other members of the 
committee, ofificials of the city, and prominent 
citizens formed an interested group wherever 
the workmen were engaged. Prominent among 
those who watched the progress of the work 
were Mr. Robert Tyler Waller, whose wife is a 
descendant of General Greene ; Mr. Otis 
Ashmore, superintendent of public schools ; 
Hon. Thomas Mason Norwood, judge of the 
City Court and former United States Senator; 
Hon. Robert Falligant, judge of the Supreme 
Court, and member of the North Carolina 
State Society of Cincinnati, since deceased ; 
the Hon. Pope Barrow, formerly United States 
Senator; and Captain Thomas Screvens. 

The order in which the various tombs were 
examined is best stated in the words of Colonel 
Gardiner in his address delivered before the 



102 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati at 
Newport, July 4, 1901. 

" The committee's attention was first given 
to examination of the many vaults, including 
one known as the Dr. Donald MacLeod vault 
and others, where, according to tradition, the 
remains had been deposited. 

" Many of these vaults were found to be in a 
very bad condition, for want of proper repairs. 
The most careful scrutiny, nevertheless, was 
made, in a reverent and proper manner, and 
records kept of th€ coffin-plates which were 
found, to the gratification of many in Savannah, 
who, in the absence of distinguishing marks to 
those vaults, owing to the vandalism before re- 
ferred to, did not know with certainty where 
the remains of certain members of their families 
had been deposited. Every vault was im- 
mediately reclosed with cemented brick, on 
conclusion of examination, before another 
vault was opened. 

"The labor was exclusively performed 
through the Park and Tree Commission, under 
the immediate charge of Mr. William H. 
Robertson, chief clerk and deputy to that com- 
mission, and the trusted employees of that 
commission were alone employed in the im- 
portant work of examining the remains in the 
vaults, all under the personal supervision of the 
committee. 



NATHAXAEL GREENE. 103 

" Finally, after all the vaults where tradition, 
or statements more or less positive, by citizens, 
averred that the remains were deposited had 
been critically and carefully examined, the 
committee gave its exclusive attention to the 
four ' Colonial ' vaults in a row, located at a 
right angle to Oglethorpe avenue. 

" The first of these, nearest to that avenue, 
althouo-h like the rest without distinCTuishins: 
mark, was found to be the family vault of 
Colonel Richard Wylly, Deputy Quartermaster- 
General of the Continental Army in the Revo- 
lution, and member of the Georgia State 
Society of the Cincinnati. His remains and 
coffin-plate were there found. 

" The next in line was supposed to be the 
Jones vault, and its examination, as a matter of 
courtesy, was deferred by the committee until 
the last, in order to communicate first with 
Wymberly Jones de Renne, Esq., proper repre- 
sentative of that family. 

" The third vault in line, upon being opened, 
was found to be empty, but the committee 
afterward ascertained that this vault was really 
the 'Jones' vault, from which all remains, 
properly identified, had been removed, as before 
stated, to Bonaventure cemetery by the late 
George Wimberly Jones de Renne, Esq. 

" The fourth vault in line was found to be 
that of an old Savannah family, the Thiot 
family, whose representatives still reside there. 



101 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

" The committee then gave its final attention 
to the second vault in line, which was opened 
at the front, to permit workmen to enter, and a 
smaller opening was made through the rear 
brick wall to permit entrance of light and air. 
In the centre of the vault were found probably 
a cartload of broken bricks, which had first to 
be removed." 

In another part of his address Colonel Gardi- 
ner states that " The brick work had no 
appearance of having been broken through, but 
even had an opening been effected, the vault 
would, on a cursory inspection, have appeared 
to be abandoned, as most of the interior was 
filled with broken brick, although how the 
brick got there is a mystery." 

This vault was opened on Monday, March 4, 
1 90 1. Upon descending into the tomb, the 
workmen found on one side a coffin in a oood 
state of preservation, on which was a silver 
plate bearing the name of Robert S€ott and the 
date of his death, June 5, 1845, ^""is age being 
at that time seventy years. As had been the 
custom in the examination of all the tombs, the 
workmen examined with great care the dust 
and mold on the floor of this vault; and on 
the opposite side, in the sandy soil which con- 




Coffin-Plate Found Among the Remains of Gen. CtReene 



The original is now preserved in the rooms of the Georgia 
Historical Society, Savannah, Ga. 



NATHAXAEL C4REENE. 1»>5 

stituted the floor of this tomb, discovered pieces 
of rotted and decayed wood, mingled with 
which were the bones of a human skeleton. 

Upon the discovery of this mass of broken 
bones and rotted wood intermingled with the 
sand and mold, Mr. Keenan, one of the work- 
men, " was sent to the City Green House at 
No. 608 Barnard street for a sieve " with which 
to separate the dust from the more substantial 
parts of the debris. While he was absent upon 
this errand, Mr. Gattman, the other workman, 
picked out from among the remains a piece of 
metal, conforming in appearance to a coi^n- 
plate, which was badly corroded ; but upon 
rubbing it upon his clothing to remove the 
corrosion or incrustation, he was quite certain 
that he could decipher the figures " 1786." ' 

1 "City of Savannah, 
"Office Park and Tree Commission. 
"State of Georgia, 
"Chatham County. 
" In the city of Savannah and said county on this 17th day 
of March A. D. 1902 personally appeared before me Leander 
Butler a notary public in and for Chatham county in said 
State Edward M. Keenan, of said Savannah who being duly 
sworn on oath deposes and says that on the 4th da}' of March 
A. D. 1901 I was an employee of the Committee of Citizens of 
Savannah appointed to make the search for the remains of 
General Nathanael Greene. That I was one of the workmen 



106 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

He then passed it through the opening 
in the tomb to Mr. Edward J. Kelly, 
who was on the outside. This occurred about 
one o'clock, and few persons, if any, besides 
Colonel Gardiner and Mr. Kelly, were present, 
for those who had been at the Park most of 
the forenoon had at this time withdrawn for 
lunch. Mr. Kelly immediately placed in 

who opened a certain vault in the Colonial Park formerly one 
of the cemeteries of said city and in company with Charles C. 
Gattman who was at that time one of the workmen employed 
by said committee entered said vault which I am informed 
and verily believe to be the so called Graham Mossman vault 
and on one side of said vault noted the rotting fragments of a 
coffin mingled with which was the remains of a skeleton of a 
hviman being. 

"That in the performance of my labors for said committee 
I entered said vault in the Colonial Park in said city of 
Savannah on said 4th day of March and that in order to 
examine the remains and debris in said vault I was sent to 
the City Green House at No. 608 Barnard street near the cor- 
ner of Huntington and Barnard streets for a sieve. Upon my 
return I was informed by Colonel Gardiner that the coffin- 
plate of Gen. Greene had been found. I again entered the 
vault and after picking out the largest of the bones among 
the remains from which the plate had been taken the dust 
and mold was sifted and among the particles remaining in the 
sieve I found three metal buttons which were corroded and 
upon rubbing off some of the green substance on one of said 
buttons I distinguished the faint outlines of an eagle, that 
among the bones removed were the rotted fragments of as 
many as three silk gloves the fingers of which were partially 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 107 

Colonel Gardiner's hands this significant evi- 
dence of the successful termination of the 
search. In a few minutes Mr. Keenan, who 
had gone for the sieve, returned to the spot and 
was informed by Colonel Gardiner "that the 
cofifin-plate of General Greene had been 
found." About this time Mr. Alfred Dearing 
Harden arrived on the spot. Keenan again 

gone but the portion covering tlie palms of the hands were 
in a fair state of preservation and were sufficiently firm as to 
be shaken to remove the dust and mould with which they were 
covered, that among the remains from which the coffin plate 
of General Greene was found, there appeared to be the bones 
of two persons one much younger than the other, which fact 
I believe from the size of the bones that upon the completion 
of the examination of the vault the remains among which the 
coffin plate was found were placed in two boxes which work 
was done within the vault by Chas. C. Gattman and myself 
and the boxes nailed up and assisted by Chas. C. Gattman 
carried the same to police barracks where the remains were 
transferred to two caskets which had been furnished Col. 
Asa Bird Gardiner. That on the side of said vault opposite 
to the remains heretofore referred to there was a casket in a 
good state of preservation containing the remains of Robert 
Scott which fact I believe for the reason that the silver plate 
thereon bore the name of Robert Scott and date of death 
June 5th 1845 and his age seventy years. 

"EDW. M. KEENAN." 
" Signed in presence of 
" Leander Butler, 

' ' jV. p. C. C. Ga. 
[L. s.] 



108 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

entered the tomb, and he and Gattman, while 
engaged in picking out the largest of the 
bones, concluded that instead of these being 
the bones of one body that there were 
" the bones of two persons, one much 
younger than the other." They then began 
to sift the small fragments of bone, wood, 
dust, and mold ; and while doing so, Keenan, 
who was using the sieve, found, among the 
particles remaining in the sieve, three metal 
buttons, evidently of brass, badly corroded ; 
upon cleaning them as well as he was able, by 
rubbing them upon his clothing, he found upon 
one what he believed to be the faint outlines of 
an eagle.' The result of this sifting also dis- 
closed the rotted fragments of as many as 
"three silk gloves the fins^ers of which were 
partially gone but the portion covering the 
palms of the hands were in a fair state of 
preservation and were sufficiently firm as to be 
shaken to remove the dust and mould with 
which they were covered." Colonel Gardiner 
and Mr. Alfred D. Harden, of the committee, 
and Mr. Otis Ashmore, superintendent of pub- 



^ These buttons were evidently brass and were ^ inch in 
diameter. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 109 

lie schools, and others examined these remains 
before they were removed from the vault. 

It was quite evident from the quantity of 
fragments of bones and portions of gloves that 
the remains of two persons were intermingled ; 
and Gattman, who was somewhat accustomed 
to handling the remains of persons long since 
deceased, was of the opinion that they were 
the remains of two persons, one much younger 
than the other. ' 



1 "City op Savannah, 
"Office Park and Tree Commission. 
"State op Georgia, 
" Chatham County, 
" In the city of Savannah and said county on this 17th day 
of March A. D. 1902 personally appeared before me Leander 
Butler a notary public in and for Chatham county in said 
State, Charles C. Gattman of said Savannah who being duly 
sworn on oath deposes and says that on the 4th day of March 
A. D. 1901 I was an employee of the Committee of Citizens of 
Savannah appointed to make the search for the remains of 
General Nathanael Greene. That I was one of the workmen 
who opened a certain vault in the Colonial Park formerly one 
of the cemeteries in said city and in company with Edward 
M. Keenan who was at that time one of the workmen em- 
ployed by said committee entered said vault which I am in- 
formed and verily believe to be the so called Graham Moss- 
man vault and on one side of said vault noted the rotting 
fragments of a coffin mingled with which was the remains of 
a skeleton of a human being at a point among said remains 
where the bones of the breast appear Uound a piece of metal 



110 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

When these facts were considered in con- 
nection with the fact that George Washington 
Greene, the eldest son of General Greene, at 
the age of eighteen years, was drowned in the 



conforming in appeai'ance to a coffin plate which was badly 
corroded on which I noted the date 1786 and so stated to Mr. 
Edward J. Kelly, who was present at the time ; and I passed this 
piece of metal to wit : the said coffin plate through the open- 
ing in the vault to said Edward J. Kelly, and I further depose 
and say that along side of the remains among which I found 
said piece of metal on which the figures 1786 appeared there 
was the remains of another human skeleton which I believe 
to be those of a male person of the age of nineteen or there- 
abouts. That I have had considerable experience in the ex- 
amination and handling of remains of persons long deceased 
and I believe that said remains had never been disturbed. 
That on the side of said vault opposite to the remains hereto- 
fore referred to there was a casket in a good state of preser- 
vation containing the remains of Robert Scott which fact I 
believe for the reason that the silver plate thereon bore the 
name of Robert Scott and the date of death June 5th, 1845, 
and his age sevent)' years. 

" That upon the completion of the examination of the vault 
the remains among which the coffin plate xfas found were 
placed in two boxes which work was done within the vault by 
Edward M. Keenan and myself and the boxes nailed up and 
assisted by Edward M. Keenan carried the same to the police 
barracks. 

"CHAS. C. GATTMAN." 

" Signed in the presence of 
" Leander Butler, 

" uV. P. C. C. Ga. 

[L. S.] 



NATHANAEL GREENE. Ill 

Savannah river, March 28, 1793, and his re- 
mains were buried beside his father, this dis- 
covery was deemed of great importance. The 
remains of the two bodies were separated as 
well as it was possible to do so, and placed in 
boxes specially prepared for the purpose and 
were removed to the police barracks nearby. 
The next day (March 5) the remains of Gen- 
eral Greene were transferred to a zinc-lined 
box " in the presence of the lieutenant of police 
and other policemen and the members of the 
committee and the press and W. T. Dixon, 
undertaker, of 15 Perry street. East, and his 
assistants."' 

Such of the remains as were thouQ;ht to be 
those of George Washington Greene were 
placed in a similar box, and after both had 
been properly distinguished by cofiBn-plates 
appropriately inscribed, the two boxes were 
transferred to the vault in the Southern Bank 
of the State of Georgia, subject to the joint 
order of Colonel Asa Bird Gardiner and Mr. 
Alfred Dearing Harden. 

Mr. Ashmore, who w^as present w^hen the re- 
mains were discovered, took pains to examine 

1 See Appendix D. 



112 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

them, with great care, for such evidence as 
would throw any light upon their identity, and 
he made careful notes of their condition. The 
left femur was i8" long, and the diameter of 
this bone was 2 ". The cranium was so decayed 
that any measurements which might have been 
made would have been of little consequence. 

The lower jaw contained twelve teeth, and 
the upper left jaw six teeth. A portion of the 
right side of the lower jaw and the base of the 
cranium were entirely destroyed, and the other 
bones of the body were so badly decayed that 
they could not be identified. The two back 
teeth in the left lower jaw were filled with 
gold,^ which would seem to show that the 
remains were those of a person of means and 
unusual advantages at that time, for the prac- 
tice of filling teeth with gold at the period of 
General Greene's death, in 1786, was not 

common. 

^ - 

1 The use of gold for filling cavities of decay in human 
teeth for the purpose of arresting its progress is very ancient. 
It is at present impossible to say when or by whom it was 
introduced. The old Arabian medical writers make mention 
of it in their works, and it is frequently referred to by others. 
The Dental Cosmos, Vol. XXIX, January, 1887, page i, con- 
tains a translation of a copy, in German, of the oldest known 
dental publication; the copy was printed in 1541, although 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 113 

The lower teeth were worn, which would 
indicate that the remains were those of a per- 
son of at least middle life. 

In the address of Colonel Asa Bird Gardiner, 
before the Rhode Island Society of the Cincin- 
nati, at Newport, July 4, 1902, relative to the 
discovery of the remains, which address is in 

there are copies dated 1530, 1532, 1536, and 1614. The edition 
of 1532 lias been translated into modern German, and a copy 
of this is in the Army ^ledical Library, Washington. At 
page 7 of tlie translation of the edition of 1541 is a quotation 
from Mesne, an early Arabian medical writer, who directs 
that "the hollow is to be cleaned with suitable instruments 
and filled with gold leaves to preserve the remaining part of 
the tooth." John De Vigo (sometimes written Johannes de 
Figo), who wrote at Rome, about 1514, a comprehensive book 
on Medical Science (Practica in Arte Chirurgica copiosa, 
Giovanni da Vigo, Rome, 15 14. In some editions it is known 
as " Vigon's Surgery"), also quotes this saying of Mesue's. 
Editions of this work in English and in Latin are in the 
Librarj^ of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. See 
also International Dental Journal, Vol. XIX, June, 1898, 
page 333. 

Peter Fauchard wrote in 172S the first real dental text- 
book (Le Chirurgien Dentiste, par Pierre Fauchard, Paris, 
1728). In this for the first time were fully described the 
various operations a dentist is expected to perform, and he 
treats of the use of gold for filling teeth ; he preferred, how- 
ever, lead, on account of its softness. He also used tin for 
the same purpose. 

Its use was well known in the profession long- prior to 1786, 
and every well-educated dentist (and there were many at that 
8 



114 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

the nature of a report on the subject to the 
society, he says, regarding the tomb in which 
the remains were found: " In the centre of the 
vault were found probably a cartload of broken 
bricks, which had at first to be removed." (See 
Appendix D.) In another part of his address 
Colonel Gardiner states : " The brick work 
had no appearance of having been broken 

time) was undoubtedly in the habit of using it in all cases 
where his judgment approved. Lead was used for cheapness, 
and for its softness, just as amalgam or alloy is used today. 
Some preferred lead on account of its supposed \nrtue in con- 
trolling inflammatory conditions ; for the same reason, others, 
in later times, advocated its use for pulp capping. 

Among the earliest, if not the first, to practice dentistry in 
America, was Robert Wooffendale. He was a pupil of Thomas 
Berdmore, who wrote a treatise upon the teeth in 176S. 
Wooffendale, after his return to England, wrote a little book 
upon the teeth, dated 1783 (Practical Observations on the 
Human Teeth, by R. Wooffendale, London, 1783), in which he 
advocates the use of gold for stopping teeth, and condemns 
lead, although admitting that he used lead for several years 
after he began practice as a dentist. He had not been in 
practice long before his visit to this country, so we are in 
doubt on two points — whether before his conversion to the 
advantages of gold he used lead exclusively, or used it in some 
cases and lead in others ; and also whether his preference for 
gold dates before or after his visit here. There is no ques- 
tion, however, but that gold was in general use for filling 
teeth long before his time. 

I am indebted to William H. Trueman, D. D. S., of Phila- 
delphia, for the information contained in the aforegoing 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 115 

through, but even had an opening been effected 
the vault would, on a cursory inspection, have 
appeared to be abandoned, as most the in- 
terior was filled with broken brick, although 
how the brick got there is a mystery." This 
statement becomes an interesting and some- 
what important feature in this account. 

On January 21, 1896, soon after this burial 
ground became a part of the city's possessions 
and was placed in the custody of the Park and 

statement. In a paper written by the same gentleman for 
the Academy of Stomatology, Philadelphia, and printed in 
the Denial Cosjiios, Vol. XXXVIII, Sept., 1896, page 713, on 
the advent of dental science in the United States, reference 
is made to Joseph Lemaire, a surgeon of the French Navy, 
who came over with Count Rochambeau, during the War of 
the Revolution, and who was skilled in the art of dentistry. 
While the American and French armies were in camp near 
Providence, R. I., during the winter of 1781-82, Lemaire per- 
formed dental operations for officers of the arm)- and others ; 
he also instructed Josiah Flagg, son of Lieutenant-Colonel 
Josiah Flagg, of Boston, in this art. Josiah Flagg was 
the first native born American dentist ; he began practice 
at Boston about 1783, and we know that he used gold for 
filling teeth; for in a circular, dated about 1785, he adver- 
tises to " mend teeth with foil or gold to be as lasting and 
useful as sound teeth." (Biographical Sketch of Josiah Flagg, 
by Dr. Burton L. Thorpe, Dental Review, Vol. XVI, April, 
1902, page 323.) It is quite possible that the fillings remain- 
ing in the teeth found among the remains were placed there 
by Joseph Lemaire. — {Author). 



116 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

Tree Commission, that commission caused a 
photograph to be taken of a portion of these 
grounds ; fortunately this photograph shows 
the tomb within which the remains were found, 
and in the dilapidated condition in which this 
and the other tombs as well as the grounds 
were at this date (see plate of the date Jan- 
uary 2 1, 1896). It will be observed from the 
photograph that the tomb and the one beside 
it show the rear portions broken away. More 
than a year after, on November 21, 1897, ^^^^ 
commission caused another photograph to be 
taken from nearly the same position that the 
first had been taken ; this shows the improve- 
ments that had been made. by the Park and 
Tree Commission during this period : walks 
had been laid out, grave -stones replaced, and 
the trees and shrubbery put in order. The 
broken end of the tomb in which rested the 
remains of General Greene had been repaired, 
leaving within the tomb the pile of broken 
brick which had fallen in when the tomb had 
been laid open either at the time of Sherman's 
occupancy of Savannah or at some other time. 
Although the tomb bore no evidence from the 
outside of having been broken through, the 
photograph shows its condition before the 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 117 

work of the Park and Tree Commission, (see 
plate of the date, November 21, 1897.) ^ 
great number of these tombs were broken into 
during the Civil War ; but it is reasonable to 
believe that this tomb was not entered by the 
soldiery or others at this time, for within it 
was the coffin containing the remains of Robert 
Scott, who died June 5, 1845. ^^ t^"*^ time of 
the discovery of General Greene's remains, 
forty years after the war, this coffin was in a 
^good state of preservation, and certainly must 
have been in a very much better condition at 
that time, which, for obvious reasons, may have 
prevented the soldiers from using this tomb 
for a temporary shelter. 

The finding of a plate such as is commonly 
placed upon the coffin containing the remains 
of a dead person is one of the most conclusive 
evidences of the identity of the remains among 
which such coffin-plate is found. That the 
coffin-plate found among the remains in the 
so-called Graham-Mossman vault in Colonial 
Park, Savannah, is authentic, there is no reason 
to doubt. All these interesting: details regard- 
ing the finding of this coffin-plate are corrobo- 
rated by all the gentlemen connected with 



118 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

the search for the remains, as are all the 
material facts stated in the report of Colonel 
Gardiner.' 

This plate was so badly corroded that very 
little upon it could be deciphered when it was 

1 "Savannah, Ga., Mar., igo2. 

"Edward Field, Esq., Sec, etc. 

' ' Dear Sir : — The undersigned residents of Savannah, Ga. , 
members of the committee appointed by the Rhode Island 
State Society of the Cincinnati to ascertain the location of 
the remains of Major-General Nathanael Greene, take pleasure 
in stating to you that they have no doubt that the remains 
found in the Graham-Mossman vault, so-called, in the Colonial 
Park in the city of Savannah, are the remains of Gen. 
Nathanael Greene, and the discovery thereof was made sub- 
stantially as stated in the address of Colonel Asa Bird Gar- 
diner before the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati, July 
4th, 1901. 

"Yours very truly, 

"Geo. a. Mercer, 
" Presd't Ga. Hist. Society. 
" Wm. Harden, 
"' Libra7-ian Ga. Hist. Society. 
"Walter G. Charlton, 
" Preset' t Ga. Soc. Sons of Revolution. 
"Alfred D. Harden, 
" Society of the Cincinnati in the State of South Carolina. 

The signature of Mr. Daflfin was not obtained, owing to the 
fact that he was out of the city at the time the paper was 
signed. — {Author). 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 119 

found. Mr. Gattman says " I found a piece of 
metal, conforming in appearance to a coffin- 
plate which was badly corroded on which I 
noted the date 1786; " this plate was handed by 
Gattman to Mr. Edward J. Kelly, who in turn 
handed it to Colonel Gardiner. While in his 
possession, and before any cleaning processes 
had been applied to it, it was examined by the 
members of the committee under whose 
direction the search was made, and also by 
many other persons in Savannah, among whom 
was Mr. Otis Ashmore, superintendent of 
schools of that city and secretary of the Geor- 
gia Historical Society. Mr. Ashmore at this 
time made an outline tracing of the plate, 
noting all its characteristics, and especially the 
ragged edges caused by the action of sul- 
phuretted hydrogen. Colonel Gardiner subse- 
quently placed this plate in the hands of 
General L. P. DiCesnola, Director of the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York 
city, under whose direction it was cleaned 
and all the lettering thereon brouoht to 

light. 

Judge William Johnson, in his life of General 
Greene, published in Charlestown, South Caro- 
lina, in 1822, Vol. II, page 420, says: "The 



120 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

coffin-plate is distinguished wherever it lies 
by a plate of silver or brass, engraven 
with the name and age in the usual manner; 
and it is confidently hoped will yet be identi- 
fied." 

The plate found among the remains, upon 
being cleaned, had the following inscription 
upon it : 

" Nathanael' Greene 

Obit June 19 17S6 

Ae 44 Years." 

Soon after it was cleaned it was sent to the 
Georgia Historical Society, placed under glass 
within a frame b}' Mr. Otis Ashmore, where it 
now remains. It is the identical plate from 
which he made a tracinor and other memoranda 
at the time of discovery.^ 

The remains of General Greene were found 
in the place where they were most likely to be 
located. Connected as an appendage to the 
confiscated estate of Lieutenant-Governor John 
Graham was a tomb in the Colonial cemetery, 
generally known as the " Graham-Mossman 
vault." It is probable that it had never been 



1 Mr. Ashmore's statements to the author, at Savannah, in 
March 1902. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 121 

used for its purpose previous to the death of 
General Greene. Many years after his death 
it was so used, and the reasons for such use are 
clearly stated in the address of Colonel Gardi- 
ner, previously alluded to and appended to this 
report' 

Soon after the discoverv of these remains, 
steps were taken to provide for their final 
interment. Mr. Robert Tyler Waller of Savan- 
nah, whose wife is a lineal descendant of 
General Greene, in behalf of other descendants 
of the General in or near Savannah, secured 
from the descendants known to him, in various 
parts of the country, an expression of their 
preference for the spot where these honored 
remains should be finally interred, and the 
replies received by him showed that nearly all 
preferred that the remains rest in the city 
where they had rested so long. 

The legislature of the State of Rhode Island, 
when the subject was referred to that body by 
the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati, 
which society had borne so prominent a part in 
the discovery, appointed a committee to take 
into consideration the whole subject, and upon 

^ See Appendix D. 



122 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

recommendation of that committee passed a 
joint resolution ^ expressing the great respect of 
the people of Rhode Island for the memory 
of her distinguished son and the desire to pro- 
vide for the re-interment of the remains within 
the State of his birth, should the descendants 
elect to have them transferred to Rhode Island. 
In accordance with this resolution, the com- 
mittee of the General Assembly also communi- 
cated with the descendants and obtained an 
expression of their wishes in the matter, all 
of whom, with the exception of three, desired 
that they remain in Savannah : these three 
however, expressed a preference for the battle- 
field of Guilford Court House, in North Caro- 
lina, as their final resting place. As soon as it 
was determined where the final interment 
should take place, arrangements were made by 
the people of Savannah to give the occasion all 
the importance and dignity that was due the 
memory of the great soldier and citizen. In 
order to provide for such re-interment with 
proper ceremonies, an organization was formed, 
consisting of representatives from the various 



i See report preceding this account, where this resolution 
is printed in full. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 123 

patriotic societies in Savannah, and designated 
the " Association of Patriotic Societies." Gen. 
William W. Gordon was elected president and 
Robert Tyler Waller, Esq., secretary. It was 
the intention of this association to make the 
occasion a patriotic one, and to avoid giving it, 
as far as it was possible to do so, a funereal as- 
pect. In order that sufificient time might be 
given to perfect all the details for the cere- 
monies attending such a momentous occasion, 
the 14th of November 1902, was fixed as the 
date for the interment. This association had 
the entire control of the affair, and the expense 
was borne by voluntary subscription of the citi- 
zens of Savannah, without resorting to the 
State or municipality for financial assistance. 

Invitations ^ to be present on this occasion 
were extended to His Excellency Charles D. 
Kimball, Governor of Rhode Island; Hon. 
Horace F. Horton, Chairman, and Hon. James 
E. Banigan, Hon. Harry H. Shepard, Hon. 
Frank T. Easton, Hon. J. Stacy Brown, Hon. 
Francis W. Greene, and Edward Field, Esq., 
Secretary, of the Joint Special Committee of 
the General Assembly of Rhode Island; and to 

^ Appendix F. 



124 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

Charles H. Howland, Esq., Executive Secre- 
tary. 

Colonel Asa Bird Gardiner, President of the 
Rhode Island Society of Cincinnati. 

Hon. George W. Olney, Secretary of the 
Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati. 

His Excellency Miles B. McSweeney, Gov- 
ernor of South Carolina; His Excellency C. 
B. Aycock, Governor of North Carolina ; His 
Excellency Joseph M. Terrell, Governor of 
Georgia ; Hon. Clark Howell, president of the 
Senate of Georgia; Hon. N. D. Morris, 
speaker of the House of Representatives of 
Georgia; Hon. T. M. Norwood, judge of the 
City Court of Savannah ; Hon. Pope Barrow, 
judge of the Superior Court of Chatham 
County, Ga. ; Hon. Henry McAlpin, Ordinary 
of Chatham County, Ga. ; Judge Emory Speer, 
of the United States Courts of Georgia; Hon. 
J. G. Moore, senator from the First District of 
Georgia; Messrs. P. A. Stovall, J. Ferris Cann, 
and William Harden, representatives to the 
General Assembly from Chatham County, Ga. ; 
Hon. A. O. Bacon, U. S. senator from Georgia; 
Hon. A. S. Clay, U. S. senator from Georgia; 
Colonel Rufus E. Lester, member of Congress 
from the First District of Georgia, and to the 




Gen. William W. Gordon, 
Savannah, Ga, 



President, Association of Patriotic Societies. 



/' 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 125 

following persons, all lineal descendants of the 
nearest degree of consanguinity to General 
Greene : 

Mrs. M. R. Troupe, New York ; Mrs. G. D. 
T. Harrison, New York ; J. K. Nightengale, 
New York; William Nightengale, Brunswick; 
Mrs. J. T. Charlton, Atlanta ; Mrs. R. T. Waller, 
Savannah; Miss E. M. Johnstone, Savannah; 
George H. Johnstone, Clarkesville, Ga. ; Miss 
A. B. Morel, Atlanta; Mrs. M. W. Morel, 
Atlanta; Mrs. B. M. Grant, Atlanta; L. E. 
Grant, Atlanta; L. B. Morrell, Tallahassee, 
Fla. ; J. A. Skipwith, Concord, N. C. ; Mrs. 
John W. Greene, New Orleans, La.; Mrs. 
Mary S' Roberts, New Orleans, La.; Mrs. Kate 
Lemmon, New Orleans, La.; Miss Mary Ward 
Greene, Newport, R. L; Mrs. Anna Car- 
penter, Manton, R. L ; Mrs. Brenton Greene, 
Princeton, N. J. ; George Washington Greene 
Carpenter, Manton, R. I. ; P. H. Skipwith, 
Jr., St. Louis, Mo. 

A proclamation' of the acting Mayor directed 

1 "PROCLAMATION. 

"City of Savannah, Mayor's Office, Nov. 13. 1902. 

"IF/wrcirs, Friday, the 14th day of November, 1902", has 
been named by the Association of Patriotic Societies for the 



126 NATHAXAEL GREENE. 

that on November 14th, the public offices be 
closed during the hours of the ceremonies. On 
that day many of the merchants and trades- 
men laid aside their business to pay their 
tribute of respect to the memory of the great 
soldier, and the people of the city and many 
persons from the surrounding country came to 
add to the impressiveness of the occasion. 

At 2 :45 o'clock in the afternoon actual 
preparations for the ceremonies' began. At 
that hour the line of carriages, marshalled by 
Mr. Frank M. Butner, one of the aides of 
Chief Marshal Jordan F. Brooks, appeared at 
the De Soto Hotel, where the visitors, guests. 



re-interment of the remains of Maj.-Gen. Nathanael Greene; 
and, 

" Whereas, In view of the distinguished services of Gen. 
Greene to his countr}', having occupied a place next to that 
of Washington, and it being desired in grateful remembrance 
of this great American to make the occasion a memorable 
event in the history of Savannah ; ^ 

" Therefore, I, Jas. M. Dixon, Acting Maj^or of the city of 
Savannah, do hereby issue this, my proclamation, requesting 
the merchants to close their respective places of business on 
that day between the hours of 2 and 6, in order to give their 
employees an opportunity to be present and participate in the 
ceremonies incident to the occasion, and all persons having 

- For programme of exercises, see Appendix H. 




Robert Tylkr Waller, 
Savannah, Ga. 



Secretary, Association of Patriotic Societies. 



NATHAXAEL GREENE. 12Y 

officers of the Association of Patriotic So- 
cieties, and city officials took their places. 
Then the carriages were driven to the Colonial 
cemetery, where the first ceremony was to 
take place, and where the troops were to as- 
semble. 

Upon Oglethorpe avenue, with the right 
resting on Abercorn street, the troops gathered, 
assembling at 3 130 o'clock. At the same hour 
were held the exercises at Colonial Park. 

Upon the front of the tomb, within which 
the remains were found, the descendants of 
General Greene had caused to be placed a 

flags are requested to display the same at half-mast between 
the hours of 3 and 6. 

" Given under my hand and seal of the city of Savannah, this 
13th November, 1902. 

"J AS. M. DIXON. 

" Acting Mayor.'" 
"Attest: Wm. P. Bailey, Clerk of Council y 

"NOTICE. 

"City of Savannah, 
"Office Clerk of Council, 
"Savannah, Ga., Nov. 14, 1902. 
"In accordance with the proclamation issued by Alderman 
Jas. M. Dixon, Acting Mayor, the city offices will be closed 
this day from 2 p. m. to 6 p. m. 

"W. P. BAILEY, 

'' Clerk of Council." 



128 XATHAXAEL GREENE. 

bronze tablet, marking the spot where these re- 
mains had rested so many years. This tablet 
was inscribed : 

"THE GRAHAM VAULT 

Here rested for 114 years 

the remains of 

Maj.-Gen. Nathanael Greene, 

Born in Rhode Island Aug. 7, 1742 

Died at Mulberry Grove, June 19, 17S6. 



His remains and those of his eldest son 

George Washington Greene 

now lie under the monument in Johnson Square." 

A United States flag obscured it until that 
point was reached when the bronze should be 
unveiled. 

About the vault and in the Park were 
gathered hundreds of people. All of the visi- 
tors from Rhode Island were in attendance, as 
were many of the local and visiting members 
of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 
A cleared space was maintained immediately 
before the ivy-grown vault, and just in front of 
the tablet, veiled by the flag, stood the recep- 
tacle containing the honored remains,^ which 

1 The remains of George Washington Greene were also 
contained in this receptacle. 




Rt. Rev. Cleland K. Nelson, 
Bishop of Georgia. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 129 

had been taken that morning from the vault of 
the Southern Bank, where they had remained 
since their discovery. The casket, made of 
Georgia curly pine, had been placed upon a 
caisson by a detail from the Chatham Artillery 
and conveyed to this ancient cemetery. 

This same military organization had borne a 
conspicuous part at the funeral obsequies of 
General Greene in 1786, this being one of the 
first duties the artillery company was called 
upon to perform after its organization, the year 
of his death. 

Standing at attention by the casket were 
Serg." A. L. Chapeau, Serg. R. W. Groves, 
Private A. Nicolas, Private J. D. Myers, Private 
J. G. Rambo, and Private P. H. Myers, mem- 
bers of the Chatham Artillery, who served as 
pall bearers. 

The exercises began with prayer by the 
Rt. Rev. Cleland K. Nelson, bishop of 
Georgia. 

Upon the conclusion of a dirge played by 
the band, Hon. Walter G. Charlton, on behalf 
of the descendants of General Greene, presented 
the tablet to the keeping of the municipality in 
the following words : 



130 NATHAN AEL GREENE. 

" My Fellow Citizens : — Over a century ago 
the people of Savannah assembled on this his- 
toric spot, and with all the circumstance which 
marks a memorable occasion laid to rest in this 
receptacle for the dead the great warrior, who, 
havinor lived through the storms and disasters 
and triumphs of his country's beginnings, in 
the fullness of his manhood and of his honors 
here sank 

" ' to rest, 
By all his country's wishes blest.' 

" To-day come again the people of Savannah, 
and with them the distinguished sons and 
beautiful daughters of other parts, that, with 
pride and reverence, new honors may be paid 
to the memory of Nathanael Greene. We who 
will look upon the procession solemn, yet, 
triumphant, which is about to bear his remains 
to their final resting place, need no incentive 
to keep in our hearts and memories the history 
and services of this great soldier, \vhose strong 
arm and stout heart bore the burden of Geor- 
gia's fate in one of the darkest hours of her 
existence. That generations of Americans 
yet to come may be incited to the exercise 
of patriotic thought by the contemplation of a 
name made famous in the hour of our country's 




Hon. Walter (t. Charlton, 
Savannah, Ga. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 131 

peril, the descendants of General Greene have 
caused to be placed upon this tomb a tablet of 
bronze, commemorative of the fact that for up- 
ward of a hundred years he here reposed. On 
their behalf I now commit to the faithful 
keeping of the municipality of Savannah this 
work of art, signalizing at once those natural 
affections which time does not disturb and that 
sentiment of patriotism which makes our 
people great." 

As Mr. Charlton concluded his address, 
Master George Washington Greene Carpenter, 
of Manton, R. I., the son of Alva E. and Anna 
M. (Greene) Carpenter, and the great-great- 
grandson of Major-General Greene, unveiled 
the tablet. 

In the absence from the city of the Mayor, 
Alderman Robert L. Colding accepted the 
gift, in behalf of the city, speaking as follows : 

''Fellow Citizens: — In behalf of the city of 
Savannah, I accept the tablet placed upon this 
vault, which has been the resting place of the 
illustrious chieftain for more than a century. 

" It gives me unspeakable satisfaction to 
know that while many different cities have 
witnessed the desecration of old burial grounds. 



132 NATHANAEL GKEENE. 

that largely through the able services of the 
speaker who has preceded me, this spot is ever 
to be kept as it is, and can never lose its identity 
as the ' Old Cemetery ' by which name it was 
known for years. The avarice of future genera- 
tions can never cause streets to be opened 
through this sacred spot, and no portion of 
it can ever be used for the erection of any pub- 
lic building or stately mansion. 

" It seems strange that this vault has never 
had an inscription placed upon it, to show the 
precious treasure it contained. This, however, 
cannot be attributed to any want of appreci- 
ation of past generations of the great services 
rendered by the gallant general, as the granite 
shaft erected to his memory in Johnson Square 
successfully rebuts any such presumption. 

" We accept this tablet, feeling assured that 
future generations will regard this spot as 
sacred, in that it, for so many years, contained 
the mortal ashes of one who played so conspic- 
uous a part in our forefathers' fight for liberty." 

Then the pall bearers took up the bier and 
moved to the waiting caisson, while the visitors 
and guests took places in the procession, which 
moved in the following order to Johnson Square, 
where the ceremonies were to take place : 




Alderman Robert L. Colding, 
Savannah, Ga. 



/^ 



NATHAXAEL GREENE. 13P> 

Chief Marshal : 
Colonel Jordan F. Brooks. 
A ids : 
Col. G. T. Cann, Capt. G. B. Pritchard, 

Capt. C. A. L. Cunningham, Lieut. T. H. Gignilliatt, 
Mr. A. B. M. Gibbs, Mr. C. W. Saussy, Mr. F. M. 
Butner, and Mr. W. P. Baldwin. 
Col. Peter W. Meldrim, First Cavalry, G. S. T., 
commanding the parade ; staff, Capts. Abram Minis, 
A. Gordon Cassels, and W. G. Harrison. 

United States Artillery Band from Fort Getty, Sul- 
livan's Island, S. C, under the leadership of Chief 
Musician Coitz. 

United States Coast Artillery from Fort Screven, 
Tybee Island, Ga., under command of Lieut. -Col. A. 
C. Taylor, Lieut. W. G. Peace, Adjutant. 
Fir.st Regiment Band. 
First Regiment Infantry, G. vS. T., under command 
of Col. G. A. Gordon ; staff. Col. J. H. Estill, Capt. 
Walter E. Coney, Capt. F. W. Garden, Capt. J. G. 
Jarrell, and Lieut. A. A. Morrison. 
Middleton's band. 
First Battalion Heavy Artillery (Savannah Volun- 
teer Guards), G. S. T., under command of Major W. 
\V. Williamson ; staff, Lieut. H. L. Richmond, Lieut. 
W. G. Austin, Lieut. John D. Carswell, Lieut. J. W. 
INIotte, Jr., and Lieut. Craig Barrow. 

Lawton Cadets, under command of Capt. Gustave 
Robertson. 

Georgia Hussars, under command of Capt. W. W. 
Gordon, Jr. 



134 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

Chatham Artillery, under command of Capt. George 
P. Walker, acting as a special escort for the remains. 

Second Division : 

Georgia Society, Sons of the American Revolution, 

Hon. Walter G. Charlton, President. 

Society of Colonial Wars. 

Representatives from Patriotic Societies. 

Third Division : 
Mr. Frank M. Butner, Aide, in charge. 

First Carriage. — Miss M. M. Morel, Miss E. M. 
Johnstone, Miss Francis Nightingale, Mr. P. H. Skip- 
with, Jr. 

Second Carriage. — Mrs. R. T. Waller, Mr. George 
W. G. Carpenter, Mr. R. T. Waller. 

Third Carriage.— Gov. C. D. Kimball, Hon. Asa 
Bird Gardiner, Rev. C. K. Nelson, Gen. W. W. Gordon. 

Fourth Carriage.— Judge Emory Speer, Judge 
Samuel B. Adams, Hon. A. O. Bacon, Hon. R. E. 
L^ester. 

Fifth Carriage. — Judge Pope Barrow, Judge T. M. 
Norwood, Judge Henry McAlpin, Hon. W. G. Charlton. 

Sixth Carriage. — Hon. H. F. Horton, C. H. How- 
land, Esq., R. Iv. Colding, Esq., F. F. Jones, Esq. 

Seventh Carriage. — Hon. J. E. Banigan, Hon. J. 
S. Brown, W. R. Leaken, Esq., Mr. J. M. Barnard, Jr. 

Eighth Carriage. — Hon. F. W. Greene, Hon. F. T. 
Easton, Rev. C. H. Strong, Mr. F. D. Bioodworth. 

Ninth Carriage.— Edward Field, Esq., G. C. Night- 
ingale, Esq., Col. W. P. Thomassen, A. D. Harden, 
Esq. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 135 

Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Carriages. — For the 
Mayor and Aldermen of Savannah. 

Thirteenth Carriage. — Members of the Park and 
Tree Commission. 

Fourteenth Carriage. — Mr. George W. Wylly, Mr. 
G. Noble Jones, Mr. D. E. Huger Smith, Mr. Wil- 
liam Bearing. 

Fifteenth Carriage. — Mr. J. A. G. Carson, Dr. T. 
P. Waring, Col. George A. Mercer, Hon. William 
Harden. 

Sixteenth Carriage.— Mr. S. E. Theus, Mr. G. H. 
Remshart, Mr. Charles Ellis, Capt. G. M. Gadsden. 

Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twen- 
tieth Carriages. — Contributors to the fund for defray- 
ing the expenses of the ceremonies. 

The roiite of march was on Abercorn street 
to Liberty, to Bull, to the monument.^ The 



1 This monument was erected in Johnson Square by a com- 
mittee composed of John Spellman, John Stevens, W. B. Bul- 
loch, J. V. Bevan, R. W. Habersham, A. Porter, James P. 
Screven, William Gaston, Alex. Telfair, A. B. Fannin, and J. 
Bond Read, funds having been provided for such a purpose 
from the proceeds of the "Greene and Pulaski Monument 
Lottery. " The corner-stone was laid with Masonic ceremonies 
by General Lafayette, while on his visit to Savannah, on March 
26, 1825; four years later the shaft was erected. 

Two monuments were proposed by the promotors of this 
lottery. The "Greene" monument, however, was the first 
built, and served for many years as a memorial to both Greene 
and Pulaski. On October 11, 1853, the corner-stone to the 
Pulaski monument, on Monterey Square, was laid, since which 



136 NATHANAEL GEEENE. 

streets along the line were filled with eager 
spectators, who viewed the procession with 
marked interest. 

When the troops reached that portion of Bull 
street between York and Congress, they were 
drawn up in line, while the carriages passed 
before them, to enable the occupants to review 
the troops. 

time the first shaft has been designated the " Greene " monu- 
ment. 

Although it had been standing since 1829, the "Greene" 
monument had no tablets on it, or any inscription Avhatever. 
On May 10, 1871, Alderman Ferrill introduced a resolution, 
which was adopted, to secure an estimate of the cost of 
suitably inscribed plates. There the matter stopped until 
on August 20, 1879, when a committee of three was appointed 
to take into consideration the unfinished condition of the 
monument and devise some method for its completion, the 
Georgia Historical Society being asked to co-operate. 
Nothing further was done for nearly four years. 

In March, 1883, General Henry Jackson, president of the 
Georgia Historical Society, wrote to council requesting 
the appointment of a committee to act with a committee from 
the Historical Society relative to the completion of the monu- 
ment. Mayor Lester and Aldermen Wilder, Thomas, Hanley, 
and Mell were appointed. On July i, 18S5, Aldermen Duncan 
and Hamlet were appointed to fill vacancies on this committee. 
On September 23, a communication was received from the 
joint committee transmitting a resolution from the Georgia 
Historical Society requesting an appropriation of $500 by 
council, the other $500 necessary for the memorial tablets to 
be raised by private contributions. October 7 an appropria- 



NATHAXAEL GREENE. 137 

On the east side of Johnson Square the car- 
riages were stopped, and their occupants, alight- 
ing, made their way to the platform erected near 
the monument. There they took the seats- 
that had been reserved for them, and the ex- 
ercises began, the troops remaining massed on 



tion of $500 was made. In the next July the tablets were un- 
veiled with appropriate ceremonies, the Chatham Artillery 
firing the salute. Part of the $500 appropriated by the city 
was returned by Treasurer D. R. Thomas of the Monument 
Tablet Committee. 

The tablet on the south side has a has relief full length 
figure of General Greene, while the tablet on the north side 
has this inscription: 

" Major-General 

Jnathanael 

Greene 

born in Rhode Island 

1742 
died in Georgia 1786. 

Soldier, Patriot, 
and friend of 
Washington. 

This shaft 
has been reared by the 
People op Savannah 

in honor 

of his great services 

to the 

American Revolution." 

^ See Appendix I. 



138 NATHAN AEL GREENE. 

Bull street. Throughout the long programme 
the troops had to stand ; not a sound from the 
scene of the exercises reached them, and they 
were in total ignorance as to what might have 
been transpiring ; yet the order was complete as 
though they were drawn up for inspection. 

In the square and all about it were crowds 
of people. The steps and portico of Christ 
Church were thronged, as were the windows, 
the piazzas, and even the roof of the Screven 
house. Windows of other neighboring build- 
ings offered their contributions of interested 
faces. 

General William W. Gordon had charge of 
the formal exercises. The Rt. Rev. Cleland 
K. Nelson, bishop of Georgia, offered prayer 
as follows : 

" Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have 
mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us. 

" Our Father Who art in heaven^allowed be 
Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be 
done on earth, As it is in heaven. Give us 
this day our daily bread. And forgive us our 
trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass 
against us. And lead us not into temptation; 
But deliver us from evil. Amen. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. lol) 

" Almighty and everliving God, we yield unto 
Thee most high praise and hearty thanks, for 
the wonderful grace and virtue declared in all 
Thy saints, who have been the choice vessels 
of Thy grace, and the lights of the world in 
their several generations ; most humbly be- 
seeching Thee to give us grace so to follow the 
example of their steadfastness in Thy faith, and 
obedience to Thy holy commandments, that at 
the day of the general Resurrection, we, with 
all those who are of the mystical body of Thy 
Son, may be set on His right hand, and hear 
that His most joyful voice: ' Come, ye blessed 
of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for 
you from the foundation of the world.' Grant 
this, O Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our only 
Mediator and Advocate. Amen. 

" O God, Whose days are without end, and 
"Whose mercies cannot be numbered ; make us, 
we beseech Thee, deeply sensible of the short- 
ness and uncertainty of human life; and let 
Thy Holy Spirit lead us through this vale of 
misery, in holiness and righteousness, all the 
days of our lives : that when we shall have served 
Thee in our generation, we may be gathered 
unto our fathers, having the testimony of a good 
conscience ; in the communion of the Catholic 



140 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

Church ; in the confidence of a certain faith ; 
in a comfort of a reasonable, religious, and holy 
hope ; in favor with Thee, our God, and in 
perfect charity with the world. All which we 
ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." 

Then the remains were placed in the vault 
that had been formed beneath the flag-stones 
on the south side of the monument. The 
artillerymen, serving as pall bearers, brought up 
the receptacle, and workmen lowered it into 
the vault. 

At the conclusion of this part of the cere- 
mony, Mrs. Edward Karow, regent of the 
Savannah Chapter of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, unveiled a bronze tab- 
let^ which Savannah Chapter had caused to be 
placed upon the monument, indicating the place 
of burial of the remains, and addressing Alder- 

1 The design of this tablet is a wreath of laurel tied at the 
top with a ribbon ; within the scroll formed by the ends of 
the ribbon is the insignia of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution, the wheel and the distaff, below this, partly 
covered by the wreath, is a tablet, on which is inscribed: 

"To commemorate the re-interment of the remains of 
Major-General Nathanael Greene, beneath this shaft, on 
November 14, 1902. This tablet was erected by the Savannah 
Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution." 




Mrs. EinvARD Karcjw, 
Savannah, Ga. 



Regent, Savannah Chapter, Daughters of the iVmerican 
Revolution. 



/ 



NATHAXAEL GREENE. 1-il 

man Robert L. Colding, representing the 
municipality, said : 

" Sir, as regent of the Savannah Chapter 
of the National Society of the Daughters of 
the American Revolution, I have the honor to 
entrust to your care this tablet, which we have 
placed here in commemoration of these solemn 
and impressive rites — a symbol of our love 
and veneration for Major-General Nathanael 
Greene, the patriot soldier of Rhode Island, the 
saviour of the South from British tyranny. 
Savannah is fortunate to hold within her bosom 
the precious dust of this great captain of the 
Revolution, while his immortal spirit will for- 
ever animate the hearts of Americans with a 
deathless love of liberty." 

In accepting the tablet on behalf of the city, 
Alderman Coldinor said : 



^iD 



" Mrs. Karow, to you and the ladies you 
represent, I can only say, in behalf of the citi- 
zens of Savannah, whose humble representative 
I am upon this occasion, that we accept the 
beautiful tablet you have placed upon this 
monument, and desire to thank you for your 
kind thoughtfulness. 



142 NATHAXAEL GREENE. 

" The ashes of an oak in a chimney are no 
epitaph of that to tell me how high or how 
large that was ; it tells me not what flocks it 
sheltered while it stood, nor what men it hurt 
when it fell. The dust of great men's graves 
is speechless, too. It says nothing, it dis- 
tinguishes nothing^. As soon the dust of a 
wretch whom you w^ouldst not, as of a prince 
whom thou couldst not, look upon, will trouble 
thine eyes if the wind blow it thither ; and 
when the whirlwind has blown the dust of the 
church-yard into the church, and the man 
sweeps out the dust of the church into the 
church-yard, who will undertake to sift those 
dusts again, and to pronounce. This is the 
patrician ; this is the noble flower, and this the 
yeoman ; this the plebeian bran ? 

" The world, with its throbbing pulse, and 
quickening pace, passes rapidly; alas, too 
rapidly, in its efforts to advance over the graves 
of the departed with scarce a glance of recog- 
nition. It does not for a moment pause to 
inquire if the sleeper, in an unmarked and un- 
kept grave, in his day and generation added 
to the sum of human happiness ; whether as a 
gallant warrior he illustrated his country's 
honor upon battlefields; whether by his wise 




Base op Greene Monument, Johnson Square, Savannah, Ga. 

Showing tablets and the tribute from Rhode Island on the occasion of the 
re-interment of the remains of Gen. Greene, November 14, 1902. 



/ 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 143 

counsel he assisted in shaping his country's 
destiny ; or whether, as a poor wretched vaga- 
bond, he lived and died amidst the shadow of 
obscurity and want. 

" It is, therefore, eminently proper that the 
ashes of the illustrious patriot whose memory 
we all revere should rest beneath this granite 
shaft, erected to his memory by a grateful 
people in recognition of distinguished services 
and sterling worth. 

" He, whose remains are to find a permanent 
resting place beneath this spot, although he 
passed away over a century ago, yet, in the 
deeds he \Vrought and in the example he has 
left us as a legacy, is one of the brightest gems 
in the crown of our country's glory. 

" We accept this gift. May the trust be well 
reposed and the confidence secure." 

At this point in the exercises, His Excel- 
lency Governor Kimball, of Rhode Island, ad- 
vanced, while the tribute from Rhode Island 
was placed upon the monument. This con- 
sisted of a large wreath of bronze galex, crossed 
with cycus palms, tied with rich purple ribbon 
on which were embossed in gold the arms of 
the State. Standing upon a tripod, the wreath 



144 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

occupied a place at the base of the monument 
throughout the ceremonies. 

" America " was then rendered by the band, 
after which Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner, L.L.D., 
L. H. D., president of the Rhode Island So- 
ciety of the Cincinnati, the orator of the occa- 
sion, delivered the address.^ 

Mr. Chairman and Ladies and Gentlemen : 

We are assembled here to-day, with official 
representatives from the States of Rhode Island 
and Georgia, to render final honors to the re- 
mains of Major-General Nathanael Greene, 
now about to be deposited under this beauti- 
ful monument erected many years ago by 
patriotic citizens to commemorate his splendid 
military services in the eight years of war for 
American independence. 

The limits of this address will permit but 
brief reference to Nathanael Greene's life and 
services. / 

1 Nathanael Greene, an address by Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner, 
L.L. D., L. H. D., president of the Society of the Cincinnati 
in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, at 
Savannah, Ga., November 14, 1902, on the occasion of the 
re-interment of the remains of Major-General Nathanael 
Greene, and of his eldest son, George Washington Greene, 
under the monument in Johnson Square. 




Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner, LL.D., LH.D. 



/ 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 145 

He belonged to a family of great antiquity 
and respectability in Northamptonshire, Eng- 
land, and was descended from a cadet branch 
which, early in the reign of Henry VHI, had 
its seat at Bowridge Hill, Gillingham Parish, 
Dorsetshire. 

His first ancestor in America, from whom he 
was the fifth in descent, was Surgeon John 
Greene, who married Joan Tattershall, at St. 
Thomas church, in Salisbury, November 4, 
1 619, being styled "Gentleman" in the church 
records — and came, with his family, to Boston, 
in the ship " James," from Southampton, where 
he arrived on June 5, 1635. 

In the following year Surgeon John Greene 
became one of the historic founders, with Roger 
Williams, of the colony of Providence Planta- 
tions ; and ever since the family of Greene has 
been one of the highest in respectability and 
distinction in the State of Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations. 

Nathanael Greene, Jr., v^^hose memory we 
to-day honor, was the second son of Nathanael 
Greene, Sr., who was a preacher in the Society 
of Friends and also the owner of a large farm, 
grist, flour, and saw mill and of an anchor 
forge. 



146 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

He was born in Potowomut, Kent county> 
Rhode Island, on July 27, 1742, old style, or 
August 7, 1 742, new style ; and his earlier years 
were passed alternately on the farm, in the 
mills, and at the forge. 

By his own exertions he acquired a thorough 
knowledge of Euclid, and at the same time did 
his daily tasks so well that his father gave him 
a latin master from whom he obtained a good 
knowledge of logic, belles-lettres, and the 
classics. 

As a latin scholar he became remarkably 
proficient, and took particular pleasure in read- 
ing in the original the latin poets — particu- 
larly Horace. 

In 1760 he studied law, in order to follow up 
more intelligently a law suit in which his father 
was engaged, and commenced by familiarizing 
himself with Blackstone's Commentaries. 

From Plutarch and Rollin he obtained his 
knowledge of Greek and Roman history, and 
from Hume and Rapin his acquaintance with 
English history. 

Such unusual diligence and perseverance in 
acquiring an education by his own efforts gave 
him a local reputation in that particular ; and 
when he removed to Coventry, Rhode Island, 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 147 

in 1770, where a branch of the iron works had 
been established, his reputation as an unusually 
scholarly and thoughtful man followed him. 

One of his first acts in his new home was to 
take measures toward the establishment of a 
school. 

In the same year he was elected a deputy 
from that town to the Rhode Island Colonial 
General Assembly, where he at once took a 
prominent position, and was afterward chosen 
to the same office in 1771 and 1775. 

Foreseeing, with profound knowledge of 
political events, that the dispute between Great 
Britain aAd the thirteen American colonies 
must ere long be brought to the arbitrament of 
the sword, he sought to prepare himself for the 
clash of arms. 

For this purpose, although a conforming 
member of the Society of Friends, whose tenets 
forbid war, he purchased, when in Boston, of a 
British deserter, a flint-lock musket, still pre- 
served in Rhode Island, and, on October 21, 
1774, became a private in the Kentish Guards, 
an independent uniformed infantry company 
chartered by the colony, and diligently set to 
work not only to learn the school of the soldier 



148 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

and company, but the art of war including 
grand tactics and logistics. 

Soon his associate members, as well as the 
deputies in the colonial legislature, discovered 
that there was no one in the colony as well 
posted on military subjects or who exhibited 
sounder judgment or greater sagacity. 

On April 22, 1775, he was chosen by the 
colonial legislature one of a committee to pro- 
ceed to Connecticut and consult with the 
General Assembly of that colony on measures 
of common defence. 

His action, in joining the Kentish Guards, 
so contrary to the principles of the Society of 
Friends, resulted in his dismission therefrom 
after a deputation had waited upon him with a 
view to induce him, by persuasion and remon- 
strance, to quit his military associates. 

On May 8, 1775, the Rhode Island General 
Assembly appointed him to be brigadier-gen- 
eral of the Rhode Island " Army of Observa- 
tion," comprising three regiments of infantry 
and a company of artillery ; and on June 2, 
1775, he proceeded to the siege of Boston and 
witnessed the battle of " Bunker Hill," al- 
though not engaged. 

On June 22, 1775, the Continental Congress 



NATHANAEL GREP:NE. 149 

at Philadelphia appointed him a brigadier-gen- 
eral in the Continental line and, on June 30, 
took the Rhode Island Brigade onto the regu- 
lar Continental establishment. 

At once his brigade took first rank in dis- 
cipline and efficiency, and it was the only bri- 
gade at that memorable siege which was fully 
supplied with camp and garrison equipage and 
properly subsisted. 

The siege terminated, on St. Patrick's Day, 
March 17, 1776, by evacuation of Boston by 
the British army under General Sir William 
Howe ; but during the long months in canton- 
ments, Washington learned to have the most 
perfect confidence in and regard for Greene. 

It was at this early period in his military 
career that Colonel Timothy Pickering, who 
had been present at a general court-martial of 
which Greene was president and had listened 
to his remarks and questions, made the pro- 
phetic statement that he was a man of " true 
military genius." 

On April i, 1775, pui-suant to General 
Washington's orders, he marched with his bri- 
gade, via Providence to New York city to assist 
in its defence against the expected arrival of 
the British army from Nova Scotia, and was a 



150 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

few days later assigned to fortify Brooklyn 
Heights. 

On August 9, 1776, he was promoted by 
Congress to be a major-general in the Conti- 
nental army. 

Taken violently ill with camp fever on 
August 15, 1776, he had to relinquish com- 
mand on Long Island. 

Later he was in the battle of Harlem. 
Heights, September 16, 1776, and bore a con- 
spicuous part, and afterward in the battle of 
White Plains. 

Already the whole Continental army began 
to recognize that Greene possessed consum- 
mate military ability. 

It was at this time, on October 2, 1776, that 
the Honorable William Duer, one of the Com- 
mittee on Correspondence of the New York 
State Convention, wrote to Lieutenant-Colonel 
Tench Tilghman, aide-de-camp to Washing- 
ton, concerning Greene, and said : x 

" I am much mistaken if he is not possessed 
of that Heaven born genius which is necessary 
to constitute a great general." 

He was with Washington in his retreat 
through the Jerseys, and, in the passage of the 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 151 

Delaware river, mid ice, snow, and sleet, and 
memorable capture of the Hessians at Tren- 
ton, December 26, 1776, he commanded the 
left wing of the main Continental army. 

On January 2, 1777, his division bore the 
brunt of the fight at Assunpink bridge, Tren- 
ton, against Earl Cornwallis, and the next day 
participated in the battle of Princeton, and 
thence marched with the army to the Heights 
of Morristown, which forced the British to 
evacuate all the Jerseys except New Brunswick 
and Am boy. 

So impressed had Washington become with 
his prudence and capacity, that, on March 18, 
1777, he sent him to Philadelphia to confer 
with the Continental Congress relative to ex- 
change of prisoners of war, the forwarding of 
supplies, and matters which he did not dare 
trust to paper ; and in his letter of intro- 
duction, addressed to the president of Congress 
he said, as to Greene, as follows : 

" He is an able and good officer in the esti- 
mation of all who know him ; he deserves the 
greatest respect." 

On May 12, 1777, General Washington sent 
him to the Hudson river, as president of a 



152 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

board of general officers, to determine what ob- 
structions would be necessary to prevent the 
enemy obtaining its control. 

In the following month he commanded 
three brigades which, preceded by Colonel 
Daniel Morgan's riflemen, attacked the Hes- 
sian force, when it evacuated New Brunswick, 
and pursued it several miles toward Amboy. 

In the battle of Brandy wine he showed his 
great military capacity; for, although stationed 
with the left wing, he made a forced march of 
four miles in forty-five minutes, with Brigadier- 
General George Weedon's brigade, of his divi- 
sion, and interposed between the routed right 
wing of the American army and the exultant 
advancing British, checking the movement, 
after a close action of an hour and a quarter, 
and saving the park of artillery and enabling 
the American army to be withdrawn from the 
field. 

In the battle of Germantown, October 4, 
1777, he commanded and led the left wing, 
which, having encountered and routed a part 
of the British right wing, entered the village 
and made a number of prisoners. 

A few days after this battle. Light Horse 
Harry Lee, then captain in the ist Regiment 








.0 CC^^KORAT 
REINTERWENT OF 
REMAINS OF 2 

I MAJOR GENERAL C . 

NATHANAEL GREENE-; 

BENEATH THIS SHAFT ON . 
NOVE MBER 14 1902 ,' 

- THIS TABLET WAS ERECTED BY 

THE SAVANNAH CHAPTER '^ 
DAUGHTERS OF THE .■> 
^ AMERICAN REVOLUTION ^Jr'" '"^ 

'^5***^sg 




Tablet placed by Savannah Chapter, Daughters of thex\merican Revolution, 
on Greene Monument, Johnson Square, Savannah, Ga. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 153 

Continental Light Dragoons, on escort duty at 
army headquarters, wrote that " Greene was a 
general whose uniform conduct had already 
placed him high in the confidence of his chief 
and of the army." 

Washington, a few days later, in a letter to 
Greene, dated October 26, 1777, subscribed it 
" with sincere regard and affection." 

In November he was sent, with his division, 
into New Jersey, to support the forces holding 
Fort Mercer, on the Delaware, against the 
movement's of his old antagonist. Earl Corn- 
wall is ; but, as the fort had been necessarily 
evacuated, after a heroic and successful defence 
by the two Rhode Island regiments under Col- 
onel Christopher Greene against Count Donop, 
Major-General Greene rejoined, with all the 
American troops, the main army and partici- 
pated in the operations at Whitemarsh, 5th- 
8th December, 1777, when Sir William Howe 
confidently marched out of Philadelphia, with 
his whole army, in expectation of defeating and 
destroying " Mr. Washington's army." Then 
followed the unparalleled sufferings and priva- 
tions of the patriots at Valley Forge. 

On May 2, 1778, Congress appointed 
Greene to be quartermaster-general of the 



154 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

army, but to retain his rank. This office he 
accepted with extreme reluctance, and only at 
Washington's urgent request. 

When the British army evacuated Philadel- 
phia, Washington gave him command of the 
second line of the main army, which saved the 
day at the battle of Monmouth after the first 
line, under Major-General Charles Lee, fell 
back by that general's orders. 

A few days later, Major James Mc Henry, of 
Maryland, military secretary to Washington, 
and afterward Secretary of War under Presi- 
dent John Adams, in a letter dated " Camp 
near New Brunswick, July i, 1778," said, as to 
Greene, that he " gave the most evident and 
unequivocal marks of great military worth ; his 
dispositions were judicious, his judgment cool 
and clear, and his bravery always pointed and 
efficacious." 

Ordered by General Washington to Rhode 
Island on July 27, 1778, Greene there per- 
formed his staff duties until assigned by Major- 
General John Sullivan to the command of the 
right wing of the American army at the siege 
of Newport and subsequent splendid battle of 
Rhode Island, August 29, 1778, against Major- 
General Robert Pigots's superior forces. For 



NATHANAEL C4REENE. 155 

his services here, Sullivan thanked him " most 
sincerely," and in his official report to Con- 
gress said : 

" Major-General Greene, who commanded in 
the attack on the right, did himself the hisfhest 
honor by the judgment and bravery he exhib- 
ited in the action." 

In October, 1778, Greene was relieved from 
command of the forces on the western shore of 
Narragansett Bay, to enable him to rejoin the 
main army under Washington and resume his 
functions as quartermaster-general, and he 
served with it at West Point and in the Jer- 
seys. 

By direction of General Washington, he 
was assigned to and commanded the division 
which fought the successful battle of Spring- 
field, N. J., June 23, 1780, against Lieuten- 
ant-General Baron de Knyphausen, who had 
marched from Amboy with a strong force, and 
compelled him to retire. 

As usual, Greene was thanked for this brill- 
iant service by General Washington, in gen- 
eral orders dated " Army Headquarters, Suf- 
ferns, June 26, 1780." 

On August 5, 1780, Greene resigned the 



156 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

office of quartermaster-general, and was 
thanked by General Washington, in general 
orders ( Army Headquarters, Orangetown, 
September 30, 1 780), " for the able and satis- 
factory manner in which he had discharged the 
duties." 

On September 29, 1780, Greene was de- 
tailed as president of the board of general 
officers, which was compelled under the laws 
of war to find Major John Andre, adjutant- 
general of the British army, " a spy from the 
enemy." 

Fearing an immediate attack on West 
Point, Washington's confidence in Greene's 
patriotism was signally displayed in appointing 
him to its command in place of Major-General 
Benedict Arnold, who had deserted to the 
enemy. 

We have now reached, in the career of this 
very great man, that point of time when he 
was, for the first, given an independent com- 
mand and enabled to conduct a campaign 
which still can be studied by the military stu- 
dent with as much profit as those of Hannibal, 
Ccesar, Marlborough, Frederick the Great, or 
Napoleon Bonaparte. 

On October 14, 1780, Greene was appointed 



NATHAN AEL GREENE. 15T 

to the command of the mihtary department of 
the south. 

His late grandson, Professor George Wash- 
ington Greene, LL. D., has aptly depicted the 
southern situation at that time. Said he : 

" England, unable to subdue her colonies by 
the north, turned her arms against the south. 

" Savannah fell an easy conquest. Lincoln 
held out thirty days in Charleston against the 
combined forces of Clinton and Arbuthnot, 
but was compelled to capitulate. 

" Gat,es, with the fresh laurels of Saratoga 
on his brow, was sent to hold them in check, 
but was crushed at Camden. 

" Whom shall we send next, was the anxious 
question ? 

" The country and the army answered, — 
' Greene. ' 

" ' I think I am sending you a general,' 
wrote Washington to a southern friend, ' but 
what can a general do without men, without 
arms, without clothing, without stores, without 
provisions ? ' 

"And following the same train of thought, 
he wrote to Governor Lee, of Maryland : 

" ' The entire confidence I have in the abili- 
ties, fortitude, and integrity of General Greene, 
founded on a long and intimate experience of 
them, assures me that he will do every thing 



158 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

his means will enable him to do, and I doubt 
not that candid allowances will be made for 
the peculiar difficulties he has to encounter. 

" ' I recommend him to your State as worthy 
of the utmost confidence and support, and to 
Your Excellency in particular, as one whom I 
rank among the number of my friends.' " 

On his way south, Greene passed through 
Richmond, Va., where he left Major-General 
Baron de Steuben to forward supplies and re- 
cruits. On December 3, 1780, at Charlotte, 
N. C, he assumed command. 

Of two thousand three hundred and seven 
men there in camp, only eight hundred were 
properly equipped and fit for duty. 

Major-General Gates had intended to go 
into winter quarters at that place, but Greene 
felt that such a proceeding would be disheart- 
ening to the command, and accordingly or- 
dered a forward movement to Cheraw Hill, 
near the Pedee and just within the borders of 
South Carolina. 

Lieutenant-General Earl Cornwallis was, 
however, advancing with a number of veteran 
British and Hessian regiments, including a bri- 
gade consisting of the Household Guards, the 
flower of the English army, composed of the 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 159 

Grenadiers, Scots Fusileers, and Coldstream 
Battalions of Guards, 

In order to harass and annoy him, Greene 
detached Brioradier-General Daniel Moro;an 
for the skillful movement on Cornwallis's left 
fiank which resulted in the brilliant victory of 
the Cowpens, S. C., January 17, 1781, and 
complete rout of Lieutenant-Colonel Ban- 
astre Tarleton, most of whose force was cap- 
tured. 

Then began the masterly retreat, a distance 
of two hundred and thirty miles, one of the 
finest in all history, which lured Cornwallis 
from his base. 

Galled in his pride and crippled in his Le- 
gionary Cavalry by Tarleton's disaster, the 
British commander resolved on the most ener- 
getic measures to retrieve the loss, and accord- 
ingly destroyed all his heavy baggage and 
stores, as well as the kits of officers and men at 
Ramsour's Mills, which eventually proved fatal 
to British efficiency. 

It may properly be said, that not even the 
retreat of the ten thousand Greeks, nor Gen- 
eral Moreau's retreat through the defiles of 
Germany, which called forth the admiration 
and applause of Europe, equal in importance 



160 NATHAN AEL GREENE. 

or consequent results the retreat of the Ameri- 
can detachment under Daniel Morgan. 

Greene, divinins: the intentions of Corn- 
wallis, put his main army on the march north- 
ward for Salisbury, under Brigadier-General 
Isaac Huger ; and himself, escorted by a few 
dragoons, set out across a hostile territory, in- 
fested with tories, to join Morgan, which he did 
on January 30, 1781, at Sherrald's Ford on the 
east bank of the Catawba^ shortly after Mor- 
o[an had crossed. 

So eager and rapid was Cornwallis's advance 
that he arrived shortly after on the Catawba, 
only to find it suddenly swollen by reason of a 
copious rainfall, and for two days he was de- 
tained on its western bank before being able 
to cross at the fords. This circumstance was 
considered by many pious people as a direct 
interposition of divine Providence in the cause 
of American independence. 

Meanwhile, Greene despatched the prisoners 
northward in charge of a detachment of mili- 
tia. 

As soon as the Catawba began to be ford- 
able, February i, 17S1, the Morgan detach- 
ment under Greene fell back. Much rain 
having fallen, and the roads, being at all times 




u 



NATHAN AEL GREENE. 161 

bad, and consisting of a tough, red clay, be- 
came nearly impassable. Nevertheless, Greene 
pushed his retreat and crossed the Yadkin, a 
broad and rapid river, fifty miles from the Ca- 
tawba, on the night of the next day. So close 
was the pursuit that the rear guard was fired 
upon just as it had embarked in the last boats, 
but got off safely. As Greene had secured all 
the boats, and the river was swollen with rains, 
Cornwallis was again detained. 

Meanwhile, Greene had sent orders to Isaac 
Huger to' take the main army to Guilford 
Court House instead of to Salisbury. 

Cornwallis now saw that the object he had 
had in view had been frustrated by the genius 
of Greene, viz.: the destruction of Mororan's 
detachment, and prevention of its union with 
the main army. 

On February 7, 1781, the Morgan detach- 
ment joined the main southern army, 

Cornwallis was approaching by forced 
marches, and further retreat became a military 
necessity. 

With excellent judgment, Greene planned 
the passage of the river Dan at Irwin's Ferry, 
a point most advantageous, so that his whole 
force was across on the evening of February 



162 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

13, 1 781, and the pursuit of twenty-six days 
terminated. 

We can fancy Cornwallis's mortification and 
rage at thus being completely frustrated in his 
plans. 

At this time the Continental currency had 
depreciated so enormously as practically to 
have lost ail purchasing quality. Never be- 
fore had the ability of Congress to carry on 
the war been so low. Major-General Greene's 
army, even his regulars, were almost wholly 
without supplies. 

The retreat, so successfully conducted, was 
made under unparalleled difficulties. It was 
through a sparsely settled country, almost 
wholly tory, and ready to deceive with false in- 
formation. The subsistence procured was 
barely enough to sustain life. The men's 
clothing was in rags, and their shoes worn out; 
so that, in the language of Greene, when writ- 
ing to Washington, "Many hundreds^ of the 
soldiers tracked the ground with their bloody 
feet." The weather was cold and tempest- 
uous, with alternate rain, snow, and sleet, and 
the rough roads almost impassable. In the 
command there were no tents nor overcoats, 
and but one blanket to every four men. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 163 

Nevertheless they trudged cheerfully on, en- 
during every privation with renewed fortitude 
because they had unbounded confidence in 
their commanding general. 

The contrast to Lord Cornwallis's army was 
indeed striking, as they were well clothed and 
well armed and equipped and provided for, 

Washington wrote to Greene, and said : 
" You may be assured that your retreat before 
Cornwallis is highly applauded by all ranks, 
and reflects much honor on your military abili- 
ties." ' 

As Greene, by crossing the Dan, had tem- 
porarily abandoned North Carolina, Cornwallis 
set up the royal standard at Hillsboro, and 
called on the tories, of which there were many, 
to join him. 

Apparently North Carolina, South Carolina, 
and Georgia were wholly under British domin- 
ation, and once more crown colonies. 

Although the Southern American army, 
while awaiting reinforcements and supplies 
from Richmond, Va., was too weak in num- 
bers for offensive operations, Greene was not 
disheartened. He wrote to Washino^ton, and 
said : " I will recover the country or die in the 
attempt." 



164 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

On February 17, 1781, the morning report 
of the American army showed, as fit for duty, 
only 1,078 infantry, 64 artillerymen, 176 cav- 
alry, and 1 12 legionary infantry, or 1,430 in all. 

Now began a series of movements un- 
matched in military history. Greene recog- 
nized the great abilities of Cornwallis. He 
had studied him at Assunpink Creek, and in 
the Jerseys, and recognized that he was one 
of Britain's greatest and most energetic gen- 
erals. 

The tories, complying with Cornwallis's 
proclamation, formed themselves into a bat- 
talion of about five hundred militia horse, 
under Colonel John Pyle, and marched for 
Hillsboro. 

Greene, in the determination to harass Corn- 
wallis, detached Brigadier-General Andrew 
Pick-ens, with some North Carolina militia, and 
Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Lee's Battalion of 
the Continental Legion, for this purpo§£. 

So anxious was he that there should be no 
mistake, that on the night of February 21, 
1 78 1, Greene, with a daring approaching reck- 
lessness, crossed the Dan under escort of a 
small detachment of dragoons, and visited 
these two partisan officers, and spent most of 




South Side of Greene Monument, Johnson SyuARE, Savannah, Ga. 

The spot where the remains of Gen. Greene are buried is indicated 
by the wreath and tablet at the base. 



XATHANAEL GREENE. 1(55 

the night in anxious consultation, and then re- 
turned in safety across the Dan. 

Upon information that Tarleton, who had 
once more got a command together of cavalry, 
with four hundred infantry and two pieces of 
artillery, had left Hillsboro in the direction of 
Haw river, west, to intercept approaching 
American reinforcements under Colonel Wil- 
liam Campbell, of King's Mountain fame, Pick- 
ens started to overtake and attack him, but 
found that he had crossed Haw river at noon 
of February 25. However, they captured two 
of his officers who had lingered behind. 

While in the great road, eight miles west of 
Hillsboro, the command unexpectedly encoun- 
tered Colonel Pyle's mounted tory force, and 
at once attacked and utterly destroyed it. 
Tarleton's command was only a couple of 
miles in advance, and Pickens proposed to at- 
tack it at daylight; but during the night, urg- 
ent orders came to Tarleton from Cornwallis 
to return at once, and he decamped in great 
haste at 2 A. M., followed by Pickens, who saw 
Tarleton's command enter Hillsboro. 

The sanguinary destruction of Pyle's com- 
mand struck terror to the tories throughout 
the south, and Cornwallis got no recruits. 



166 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

As for Tarleton, he seems to have acquired 
such a wholesome dread and respect for the 
American Continentals that his subsequent 
services in the Carolinas ceased to be brilliant 
or successful. 

On February 23, 1781, Greene, having de- 
termined to hold CornwalHs in check, re- 
crossed the Dan, on the tenth day after his 
celebrated retreat. As yet the expected re- 
inforcements had not arrived, and he was con- 
sequently unable to fight a battle. 

Between the Haw and Deep rivers was an 
extensive and thickly populated settlement of 
tories, and, in order to overawe them, Greene 
encamped in their midst. 

Now began a series of masterly maneuvers 
for ten days which puzzled, harassed, and irri- 
tated CornwalHs, whose foraging parties were 
cut off and camp insulted, and reinforcements 
hacked to pieces. 

At last the long-expected troops ai-^d sup- 
plies reached Greene, at High Rock Ford on 
the Haw river, on Sunday, March 11, 1781, 
and four days later he fought the battle of 
Guilford Court House, a most sanguinary one, 
in which the British killed and wounded 
amounted to one third of Cornwalliss entire 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 167 

force, including many valued officers. Both 
sides intuitively recognized the stake for which 
they were contending, and fought to win. 
Greene was constantly under fire, directing and 
animating his troops. 

Cornwallis held the ground, and Greene 
leisurely retreated to Reedy Ford and then 
fainted, and for a while was unconscious from 
exhaustion from long and arduous labors. He 
wrote to his wife, after the battle, that he had 
not taken off his clothes for six weeks. 

Two ^ays after the battle, on March 17, 
Cornwallis, having buried his dead, placed 
those of his wounded in New Garden meeting 
house of the Society of Friends, under a flag 
of truce, commending them in a letter to 
Greene's care, and then hastened to put the 
Deep river between himself and his adversary, 
and burn the bridge, and marched with all 
speed to Wilmington on the coast, where 
transports awaited him with supplies. Greene 
pursued only as far as Ramsey's mill, on Deep 
river. Victory may be said to be the success- 
ful issue of a struggle for superiority and con- 
trol. 

Marechal de France, le Comte de Rocham- 
beau, says, in his memoirs, that Greene's con- 



16S NATHANAEL GREENE. 

duct in his previous retreat to the Dan, and in 
the battle of Guilford Court House, "did him 
great honor and fully justified the brilliant 
talent of which he afterward gave proof." 

Greene now determined upon a movement 
which stamped him as one of the very greatest 
military commanders of the eighteenth cen- 
tury. 

Instead of continuing after Cornwallis, he 
deliberately turned to South Carolina. 

Alexander Hamilton, Aide -de -Camp to 
Washington, in his memorial address on 
Greene, on July 4, 17S9, at St. Paul's Chapel 
on Broadway, before the New York State So- 
ciety of the Cincinnati, in referring to this 
march southward, said : 

" This was one of those strokes that denote 
superior genius and constitute the sublime of 
war. It was Scipio leaving Hannibal in Italy 
to overcome him at Carthage! 

" The success was answerable to the^ judi- 
cious boldness of the design. The enemy 
were divested of their acquisitions in South 
Carolina and Georgia with a rapidity which, if 
not ascertained, would be scarcely credible. 
In the short space of two months all their 
posts in the interior of the country were re- 
duced. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 169 

" The perseverance, courage, enterprise, and 
resource displayed by the American general, 
in the course of these events, commanded the 
admiration even of his enemies. In vain was 
he defeated in one mode of obtainino- his ob- 
ject; another was instantly substituted that 
answered the end. In vain was he repulsed 
before a besieged fortress ; he immediately 
found other means of compelling the defenders 
to relinquish their stronghold." 

The limits of this address will not permit 
detailed reference to other actions. 

The late Colonel Creasy did not include 
" Guilford Court House " as one of the fifteen 
decisive battles of the world, but it properly 
belongs in that category. It was the decisive 
battle of the southern campaign, followed, 
actually and logically, by Cornwallis's subse- 
quent capitulation, with his army, at York- 
town, and in its results enabled the American 
general to rescue three great States, an empire 
in themselves, from British domination. 

Deep despondency among the whigs gave 
place to high exultation and earnest patriotic 
endeavor. 

On April 19, 1781, Greene took post at 
Hobkirk's Hill, near Camden, in South Caro- 
lina, where, on the next day, he was attacked 



170 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

by Lord Rawdon and compelled to quit the 
field in good order, after a hard fought battle, 
and then began to prepare for the investment 
of Rawdon himself, in Camden, but the British 
general speedily evacuated on May 9th. 

Forts Watson, Motte, Granby, and the post 
of Orangeburg and Forts Galphin, Grierson, 
and Cornwallis, capitulated in quick succession 
to the Americans, while two other posts were 
promptly evacuated. 

The " Siege of Ninety-Six " failed because 
reinforcements arrived ; but Greene's combina- 
tions were such that it could not be longer 
held by the British, and was promptly evac- 
uated. Greene then moved to the historic en- 
campment on the High Hills of Santee, to 
give his command needed rest. 

Congress had now become profoundly im- 
pressed with his extraordinary ability, and on 
July 25, 1781, in referring to these events, said 
they afforded " such proofs of his j;j.dgment, 
vigilance, and firmness as to recommend him 
to the entire approbation of Congress." 

On September 8, 1781, he fought the bloody 
battle of Eutaw Springs, which practically ter- 
minated British power in the Carolinas ; and 
Brigadier-General Anthony Wayne, whom he 



NATHAN AEL GREENE. 17 1 

sent to Georgia, soon forced the evacuation of 
that State. 

Congress, on October 29, 1781, thanked 
Greene for " his wise, decisive, and magnani- 
mous conduct " in the victory at Eutaw 
Springs, and directed the presentation to him 
of a British standard and a gold medal. 

On December 14, 1782, the British army 
evacuated Charleston, S, C, their last station 
in the south, and Greene rode in at the head 
of the American army. 

The indomitable perseverance of this great 
commander may be surmised from a letter he 
v^rote, just at the close of active campaigning, 
in which he said : " I have been seven months 
in the field without taking my clothes off one 
night." 

On January 17, 1783, Congress again 
thanked Greene "for his many signal and 
important services," and informed him of the 
lively sense they entertained of the frequent 
and uniform proofs he " had given of pru- 
dence, wisdom, and military skill during his 
command." 

On April 22, 1783, cessation of hostilities 
having been officially proclaimed, Greene re- 
viewed the Continental troops and gave a din- 



172 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

ner in cantonments on James Island, S. C, to 
the Governor of South Carolina, members of 
legislature, and officers and citizens of distinc- 
tion. Many ladies were present including his 
own wife. 

The eighth toast of the thirteen which he 
announced was: "May the spirit of Union 
prevail in the United States." 

On August 15, 1783, he relinquished com- 
mand of the southern department to Major- 
General William Moultrie and journeyed 
northward, visiting Congress at Princeton and 
Washington at army headquarters. 

On October 18, 1783, Congress gave him 
leave of absence, and resolved that two pieces 
of field ordnance taken from the British at the 
Cowpens, Augusta, or Eutaw, be presented to 
him " as a public testimonial of the wisdom, 
fortitude, and military skill which distin- 
guished his command in the southern depart- 
ment, and of the eminent service-sr which 
amidst complicated difficulties and dangers, 
and against an enemy greatly superior in 
numbers, he has successfully performed for 
his country." 

The legislature of the State of South Caro- 
lina gave him 10,000 guineas, and that of 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 173 

North Carolina gave him 5,000 guineas and 
25,000 acres of land, while that of Georgia 
gave him 5,000 guineas and 24,000 acres. 

In this latter grant was subsequently in- 
cluded the confiscated plantation of Mulberry 
Grove, on the Savannah river, about twelve 
miles above Savannah, formerly the property 
of the Honorable John Graham, the tory 
Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, and the 
deed of cession bears date March 5, 1785. 

In November, 1783, he arrived at his home 
in Rhode Island, after an absence, in public 
service, of over eight years. 

On December 23, 1783, the Rhode Island 
Continental ofilicers of the Revolution met in 
the Senate chamber of the State house. Provi- 
dence, R. I., to permanently organize the 
Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati. 

Greene was then chosen president, and was 
annually re-elected every year until his de- 
cease. 

He was active in its interests, as his letters 
to Washington and others show. 

Three days later, on December 26, 1783, the 
Governor and General Assembly of Rhode 
Island officially referred to his brilliant military 



174 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

conduct and achievements, "and their unabat- 
ins: affection." 

The next two years were, to Greene, years 
of tribulation and sorrow. 

To procure supplies for his destitute com- 
mand he had pledged his private fortune, and 
the Continental Congress of the Confederation 
was in no situation to relieve him. 

The generous donations, however, of the 
southern States brought him relief. 

In I 784-5 he was at the south, and trying to 
arrange his affairs; but on June 25, 1785, he 
arrived at his home in Newport, R. I., by 
packet, from Charleston, S. C. 

On July 4th, 1785, he .presided over the 
meeting of the Rhode Island State Society of 
the Cincinnati in the Senate chamber. State 
house, Newport, and on October 14, 1785, set 
sail with his family for his plantation at Mul- 
berry Grove. 

Here on June 19, 1786, he died suddenly of 
a congestive chill, due to exposure in the fields 
under a hot sun, and the next day was buried, 
with military and civic honors, in the newly 
erected and previously unused Graham vault 
in the Colonial cemetery in Savannah, the 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 175 

Georgia State Society of the Cincinnati being 
the chief mourners. 

On August 8, 1786, Congress decreed a 
monument " In honor of his patriotism, valor, 
and abihty," and on June 23, 1874, that the 
statue should be an equestrian statue. This 
was erected in Sherman square, Washington, 
in 1877. 

Congress had previously, on July 2, 1864, in- 
vited every State to furnish two statues for the 
old hall of the House of Representatives. 
One of the two prescribed by Rhode Island 
was that of Nathanael Greene, and the late 
United States Senator Henry B. Anthony, of 
that State, in presenting it on behalf of Rhode 
Island, said : 

"Among those who, in the Revolutionary 
period, won titles to the national gratitude, 
never disavowed, he whose statue we have 
placed in the Capitol stands in the judgment 
of his contemporaries and by the assent of his- 
tory second only to the man who towers with- 
out a peer in the annals of America." 

Archdeacon Cyrus Brady, a graduate of the 
United States Naval Academy, in the preface 
to a recent romance entitled " When Blades 
are out and Love's Afield," says : 



176 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

" Next to Washington, this New England 
blacksmith, who so highly educated himself 
that for relaxation he read the Latin poets in 
the original by the light of the camp fire, 
stands as the most brilliant soldier-strategist, 
tactician, and fiorhter of the Revolution. . . 
And his character was as great as his genius." 

When he died, Anthony Wayne, who was 
with him, wrote a hasty note to the authorities 
of Savannah, and said: 

" He was great as a soldier, greater as a citi- 
zen, immaculate as a friend, . . The honors, 
the orreatest honors, of war are due to his re- 
mains Pardon this scrawl, my feel- 
ings are too much affected because I have 
seen a great and good man die." 

Washington, in announcing his decease to 
Rochambeau, in July, 17S6, said: " He was a 
great and good man indeed." And, in a letter 
from Mount Vernon to Thomas Jefferson, 
dated August i, 17S6, said: "You will, in 
common with your countrymen, have regretted 
a loss of so great and so honest a man." 

Washington, in a letter to Colonel Jeremiah 
Wadsworth, dated October 22, 1786, offered at 
his " own cost and expense to educate his 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 1 ( ( 

namesake, George Washington Greene," who 
was then in his eleventh year. 

This plan was carried out, and the lad was 
sent to the care of Lafayette until the French 
Revolution. 

The Cincinnati of Georgia, as a token of 
" high respect and veneration " for the memory 
of Major- General Greene, resolved that his 
eldest son, George Washington Greene, should 
be admitted an hereditary member on arriving 
at the age of eighteen years; but unfortunately, 
before that date, the young man was accident- 
ally drowned in the Savannah river, off Mul- 
berry Grove, on March 28, i 793, and his body 
deposited with his father's in the Graham 
vault. 

Here they remained until last year, and now 
are to be re-interred, with fitting honors, under 
the beautiful monument in Johnson square, 
the first one erected to Greene's memory. 
This is the general wish of his descendants, 
and the legislature of Rhode Island, by fitting 
representation from their body, with the Gover- 
nor of that State, are present to assist in this 
patriotic act. 

The presence of official representatives of 
the State of Georgia and city of Savannah are 



Its NATHANAEL GREENE. 

proper acknowledgment of Greene's potential 
services to the cause of the south. 

My duty is now done. 

Chief Justice John Marshall called pointed 
attention to the fact that even when Greene 
did not gain a decisive victory "he obtained to 
a considerable extent, even when defeated, the 
object for which he fought," and if the field of 
his southern operations is now dispassionately 
studied it will be perceived that, in the end, he 
always, by indomitable American perseverance, 
sagacity, and energy, obtained what he sought. 

Alexander Hamilton, in his wonderful ora- 
tion in 1 789, before referred to, before the New 
York Cincinnati, said, as to. Greene: 

" It required a longer life, and still greater 
opportunities, to have enabled him to exhibit 
in full day, the vast, I had almost said the 
enormous, powers of his mind." 

This monument, which will now Jbave be- 
neath it the remains of one of America's 
greatest and best citizens, will be an incentive 
to the rising generation to emulate his example 
in patriotism, perseverance, energy, attention 
to duty, and honesty of character. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 179 

" The lives of great men all remind us, 
We can make our lives sublime ; 
And, departing, leave behind us 
Foot-prints on the sands of time." 

Upon the conclusion of Colonel Gardiner's 
address the "Star Spangled Banner" was 
played by the band, after which Bishop Nelson 
pronounced the benediction : 

" The Lord bless you and keep you. The 
Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be 
gracious unto you. The Lord lift up His 
countenance upon you and give you peace, 
both now and evermore. Amen." 

Thus, with impressive and dignified cere- 
monies, were laid away, in their final resting- 
place, the honored remains of that noble citi- 
zen and great soldier, Nathanael Greene, of 
Rhode Island. 

Far from the scene of his birth and that 
State with which his name will ever be asso- 
ciated, the people of that beautiful southern 
city, in the State of his adoption, testified to 
their appreciation of his great qualities as a 
citizen and a soldier, and did full honor to his 
memory. 



Appendix A. 



An act to describe the lands granted to 
Major-General Nathaniel Greene, and 
to confirm the title thereof in the 
SAID Nathaniel Greene, his heirs and 

ASSIGNS FOREVER. 

Whereas the general assembly by an act passed in 
April and Maj^ session, seventeen hundred and 
eighty -two, entitled, " An act for the relief of the 
ofiScers and soldiers in the continental line, and for 
other purposes therein mentioned," did allot and give 
to the said Nathaniel Greene, his heirs and assigns, 
twenty-five thousand acres of land, as a mark of their 
high sense of the extraordinary services of the said 
Nathaniel Greene ; and directed the same to be laid off 
by the commissioners by the said act appointed, with- 
in the bounds of the lands reserved for the use of the 
army ; and whereas Absalom Tatom, Isaac Shelby, 
and Anthony Bledsoe, commissioners apj)ginted by 
the said act to examine and superintend the laying 
off the lands reserved for the use of the army, in pur- 
suance of the said act ; and agreeable thereto did lay 
off and surve}^, or cause to be laid off and surveyed, 
twenty-five thousand acres of land for the said 
Nathaniel Greene, a plat of which was duly returned, 
and now is among the public papers, bounded as fol- 



XATHANAEL GREENE. 181 

lows : beginning on the south bank of Duck river, on 
a sycamore, cherry-tree and ash, at the mouth of a 
small branch ; running thence along a line of marked 
trees, south seven miles and forty-eight poles to two 
Spanish oaks, a hickory and sugar sapling, thence 
east six miles and ninety poles to a Spanish oak and 
hackberry tree, north three miles and three hundred 
poles to a sugar tree sapling and two white oak sap- 
lings, under a clift of Duck river, where it comes 
from the north-east, thence down Duck river, accord- 
ing to its several meanders to the beginning. 

II. Be it therefore enacted by the General i\ssem- 
bly of the state of North Carolina, and it is hereby 
enacted by the authority of the same. That the abso- 
lute property of the land so laid off by the commis- 
sioners, and included in the bounds above mentioned, 
be and it is hereby' vested in fee-simple in the said 
Nathaniel Greene, his heirs and assigns forever ; and 
his excellency the governor is hereb}^ directed to 
make out and execute without delay, on behalf of the 
state, a good and sufficient grant, with the seal of the 
state annexed in due form, to the said Nathaniel 
Greene, his heirs and assigns, for the lands above des- 
cribed, and to cause the same to be recorded or regis- 
tered in the proper offices, and then to transmit the 
said grant as soon as may be to the said Nathaniel 
Greene. 

III. And be it further enacted bj^ the authority 
aforesaid. That all entries, warrants, surveys and 
grants, which have been made or obtained subsequent 
to March the eleventh, seventeen hundred and eighty- 



182 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

three, the date of the return of the survey of the said 
Nathaniel Greene's lands, or shall be hereafter made 
or obtained by anj- other person or persons for the 
said lands, or any part thereof, shall be and they and 
every of them are hereby declared utterly void, any 
law to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Act of General Assembly begun at Hillsboro April 
19, 1784. 

First session of Assembly, Alexander Martin, Esq., 
Governor. 



At a General Assembly, begun and held at Hills- 
borough, on the Thirteenth Day of April, in the Year 
of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and 
Eighty-two, and in the Sixth Year of the Indepen- 
dence of the said State : being the first Session of this 
Assembly. 

An act for the relief of the officers and 
soldiers in the continental line, and for 
other purposes therein mentioned. 

X. And be it further enacted by the authority 
aforesaid, That twenty-five thousand acres ^ land 
Lands shall be allotted for, and given to Major Gen- 
auiowed J jq^athanael Greene, his heirs or assigns, 

General ' ^ 

Greene, within the bouuds of the lands reserved for 
the use of the army, to be laid off by the aforesaid 
commissioners, as a mark of the high sense this state 
entertains of the extraordinary services of that brave 
and gallant officer. 



nathanael c4reene. 183 

State of North Caroi^ina. 

To ALL TO Whom These Presents Shall Come, 
Greeting. 

Know Ye, That We, for and in Consideration, 
and as a Mark of the high sence of the Extraordinary 
Services of Major-General Nathaniel Greene, enter- 
tained by Our General Assembly, and by Virtue of an 
Act passed in this last Session in this Case made and 
provided, have given and granted, and by these pres- 
ents do give and grant, unto the said Nathaniel 
Greene, a Tract of land Containing Twenty-five thous- 
and Acres, lying and being in the County of 
Beginning On the South bank of Duck river and Syca- 
more Cherry tree and Ash at the mouth of a Small 
Branch, running thence along a line of Marked trees, 
South Seven Miles, and fortyeight poles to two Span- 
ish Oaks hickery and Sugar Saplin, then East Six 
Miles and ninety poles to a Spanish Oak and huckle- 
berry tree, then North Three miles and three Hundred 
poles to a Sugar tree Saplin and two White Oak Sap- 
lins under a Clift of Duck river, where it comes from 
the North East, then down duck river according to 
the Several meanders to the Beginning, as by the Plat 
hereunto Annexed doth appear ; together with all 
Woods, Waters, Mines, Minerals, Hereditaments, and 
Appurtenances to the said land belonging or Appre- 
taining : To Hold to the said Nathaniel Greene his 
Heirs and Assigns for ever. Yeilding and paying to 
us such sums of Money yearly or otherwise, as our 
General Assembly from time to time may direct pro- 



1S4: NATHAXAEL GREENE. 

vided ahvays, that the said Nathaniel Greene shall 
cause this Grant to be Registered in the Registers 
Office of our said Count}- of , within Twelve 

months from the date hereof, Otherwise the same 
shall be void and of None Effect. 

In Testimony whereof, we have caused these, Our 
letters, to be made Patent, and Our Great Seal to be 
hereunto Affixed. 

Witness, Alexander Martin, Esquire, Our Governor, 
Captian-General, and Commander in Chief, at 

the day of in the Ninth 

Year of Our Independence, and in the Year of our 
Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty-four. 

ALEX: MARTIN. 

By His Eccellj's commd.) 

J. Glasgow, Seci-etary. 



Appendix B. 



Extracts from House Journals of 1782 and 17S3 in 
regards to Genl. Nathaniel Greene. 

Augusta, Januarj' ist, 1782. 

Being the time appointed by the constitution of this 
State for the meeting of the General Assembly . 

Januar_v 3d, 1782. 

The House met according to adjournments. 

Ordered, That the Speaker be requested to write to 
his Excellency General Nathaniel Greene, informing 
him of the Honorable John Martin, Esquire, being 
elected Governor of this State, which was as follows : 

House of Assembly, 4th January-, 1782. 
Sir : — I have the honor to inform you that the 
Honorable John Martin, Esquire, has been elected 
Governor of this State for the ensuing year, agreeable 
to the Constitution. I have the Honor to be Your 
Excellencj's 

Most obedient, humble Servant, 



To His Excellency, 
Majr. General Greene. 



186 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

Wednesday, Ma}- ist, 1782. 

The House met according to adjournment. 

Whereas, the Honorable Major-General hath since 
his taking the Command of the Southern Army, ren- 
dered high and important services to these Southern 
States by wresting them from the hands of British 
oppression, and establishing the foundation of their 
independence and prosperity 

And Whereas, services so glorious and honorable to 
the United States in general, and this State in particu- 
lar, services which at once characterize the able and 
judicious General as well as the intrepid assertion of 
of American freedom, call for the distinguished appro- 
bation of the Legislature of this State, 

Be it therefore Resolved, That the sum of Five Thou- 
sand guineas be granted to three Commissioners to be 
appointed by this House for the purpose of purchas- 
ing an Estate for Major-General Nathaniel Greene, in 
such part or parts of this State as he shall appoint. 

Resolved, That the said Commissioners be em- 
powered and authorized to draw on and receive the 
said sum of five thousand guineas from the public 
treasury of this State. ^ 

Ordered, That a committee be appointed to write to 
Major-General Greene, and Brigadier-General Wayne, 
on the substance of the Resolve in their favour. And 
that Mr. Howly, Mr. Clay, and Mr. Baker be that 
Committee. 



XATHAXAEL GREENE. 187 

Saturday. Ma\- 4th, 1782. 

The House met according to adjournment. . . . 

Ordered, That Mr. Howley. Mr. Clay, and Mr. 
O' Bryan be a Committee to purcha.se Estates for 
Generals Greene and Wavne 



Wednesday. July 31st, 1782. 

The House met according to adjournment. . . . 

The Committee appointed to purchase lands for the 
Generals Greene and Wayne, agreeable to a Resolve 
of this House of the ist day of May last, report. . . 

That they have purchased another tract of land for 
the Honorable Major-General Greene, formerly the 
property of Graham. Esq., supposed to Contain two 
thousand one hundred Seventy-one acres. Amount of 
purchase. Seven thousand Ninety-seven pounds, nine- 
teen Shillings. The Committee request if the House 
approves of the same, that this House will give direc- 
tions to the Commissioners for the forfeited estates to 
execute titles for the above tracts of land to Generals 
Greene and Wavne 



Mondaj-, January 13th, 1783. 

The House met according to adjournment. . . . 

Motion being made and Seconded. 

That a committee be appointed to prepare and re- 



188 XATHANAEL GREENE. 

port an address, to be printed, to the Honorable 
Major-General Nathaniel Greene, Commander-in- 
Chief in the Southern Department. 

Ordered, that Mr. William Houstoun, Mr. Telfair, 
and Mr. Jackson be that Committee. 

To the Honorable Nathaniel Greene, Esquire, 
Major-General and Commander-in-Chief of the 
Southern Department, &c. 

The address of the Representatives of the Freemen 
of the State of Georgia. 

The Legislature of the State of Georgia wish to 
assure you of the real happiness your presence in 
their Capitol has given them — words are too inexpress- 
ible to convey their sentiments of the difficulties you 
have surmounted during your command in the 
Southern Department, not only j'our well directed 
exertions, and the virtuous struggle of your victorious 
army, but your views of ease to the Citizens, in draw- 
ing your resources through a Scattered Country, will 
be ever gratefully remembered by a State which has 
felt so particularly the happy consequences of them. 

They congratulate you, Sir, on the Signal success 
wherewith the arms of the United States under your 
Command with the blessings of Divine Providence 
has been crowned by the total expulsion of the enemy 
from the southern States — an annal in the history of 
our Country which must render the name of Greene as 
long as the rememberance of British tyranny .shall be 
handed to posterity. 

They beg you to accept their unfeigned thanks for 



XATHANAEL GREENE. 189 

3-oiir decided and intrepid conduct and to believe 
their ardent desire 3'our future days may meet that 
care and happiness a glorious and serviceable life 
through this grand revolution most deservedly entitle 
you to. 

Bv order &c 



Tuesda}', January 14th, 1783. 

The House met according to adjournment. 

A letter from the Honorable Major-General Green 
was read. 

Ordered, that the said letter be inserted in the 
minutes : and is as follows : 

Sir : — Your polite and obliging address to welcome 
me to this State afford me the most singular satis- 
faction : Nor are your liberal acknowledgments for 
m}^ small services and generous wishes for my future 
care less pleasing. It affords me the most agreeable 
sensations to Contemplate the happy change in the 
affairs of this Country, and it is among the first in my 
wishes that you may long, long enjoy the blessings 
of freedom and independence — free from further 
alarms : But should it be your misfortune to have the 
flames of war rekindled in this question, ni}' early 
endeavors shall not be wanting to check its progress 
— and I cannot but hope by the smiles of Providence 
the virtue and spirit of the Army, joined by the 
genious of the Country we shall triumph over our 
enemies. I beg the Legislature to believe I am 



190 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

highly Sensible of the honor they have done me, and 
take the libertj' to assure you of my ready disposition 
to serve 3'ou. 

I have the honor to be &c., &c. 



Saturday, January i8th, 1783. 

Resolved, that the persons appointed to purchase 
lands for the Honorable Major-General Nathaniel 
Greene be desired to report a full state of their pro- 
ceedings thereon and in what stage the business 
stands 

The Committee having received Satisfactory infor- 
mation that Major-General Greene had declined the 
purchase made by the Commissioners appointed by 
the State to purchase certain lands on the conditions 
contained, therefore 

Resolved, That the Commissioners appointed to sell 
and dispose of the Confiscated property do make titles 
to Major-General Greene, for a tract or tracts of land 
formerly the property of John Graham, Esquire — 
containing, as it is said. Two Thousand one hundred 
and Seventy-one acres — Known by the name of Mul- 
berry Grove, and the new plat in lieu of a grant of 
five thousand lying [one line at bottom of page where 

written destroyed and cannot be read] 

of this State of the first day of May, one thousand 
Seven hundred and Eighty-two. 



Appendix C. 



On Monday last, the 19th da}- of June, died, at his 
seat near Savannah, Nathanael Greene, Esq.. late 
Major-General in the Armj^ of the United States ; and 
on Tuesday morning his remains were brought to town 
to be interred. The melancholy account of his death 
was made known by the discharge of minute guns 
from Fort Wayne ; the shipping in the harbour had 
their colours half-masted ; the shops and stores in the 
town were shut ; and every class of citizens, suspend- 
ing their ordinary occupations, united in giving testi- 
monies of the deepest sorrow. 

The several military corps of the town, and a 
great part of the militia of Chatham county, attended 
the funeral, and moved in the following procession : 

The Corpse of Artillery, 

The Light Infantry, 

The Militia of Chatham County, 

Clergymen and Physicians, 

Band of Music, 

The Corpse and Pall Bearers, 

Escorted on each side by a Company of Dragoons, 

The Principal Mourners, 

The Members of the Cincinnati as Mourners, 

The Speaker of the Assembly, 

And other Civil Officers of the vState, 

Citizens and Strangers. 



19L> NATHANAEL GREENE. 

About five o'clock the whole proceeded, the Miisic 
playing the Dead March in Saul, and the Artillery 
firing minute guns as it advanced. When the Mili- 
tary reached the vault in which the bodj^ was to be 
entombed they opened to the right and left, and, rest- 
ing on reversed arms, let it pass through. The 
funeral service being performed, and the remains de- 
posited, thirteen discharges from the artillery, and 
three from the musquetry, closed the scene. The 
whole was conducted with a solemnit}' suitable to the 
occasion. 

With respect to the public character of this great 
man, it is so well known, by the distinguished ser- 
vices he has rendered his country, that it requires, 
and indeed can receive no addition from what might 
be said here. As to his private virtues, they will live 
in the remembrance of all his fellow citizens. 

General Greene left behind him a wife and five 
children, the eldest of whom is about eleven years. 
The loss of such a man, to such a family, must be 
truly afflicting ! 

"Thy darts, O death : that fly promisc'ous round. 
In such a victim many others wound." 

Immediately after the interment of the (General the 
members of the Cincinnati retired to the coffeehouse, 
and came to the following resolution : 

On viotion, That, as a token of the high respect and 
veneration in which this Society hold the memory of 
their late illustrious Brother, Major-General Greene, 
deceased, George Washington Greene, his eldest son, 




" '^ 



< c 

< i- 



x c 



Ph ^ 






NATHANAEL GREENE. r.>3 

be admitted a member of this Society, to take his seat 
on his arriving at the age of eighteen years : 

Resolved^ therefore, unanimously, That he be admit- 
ted a Member of the Cincinnati ; and that he may take 
his seat in the Society on his arriving at the age of 
eighteen : That this resolve be published in the Geor- 
gia Gazette, and that the Secretar)^ transmit a copy of 
the same to the several State Societies, and to the 
guardian of the said George Washington Greene. 



Regimental Orders, 20th June, 1786. 

The Honorable Major-General Greene ( whose 
memory ought to be sacredly dear to every citizen of 
America, and respected by every lover of the rights of 
mankind) having departed this life, the Colonel, from 
a sense sufficient honor cannot be paid his remains, but 
what is in the power of the regiment ought to be 
done, requests the regiment to exert themselves on 
the occasion. 

The regiment will parade in the Church Square, the 
Infantry equally divided into eight platoons, and 
marched off with shouldered arms to the front of 
Major Pendleton's house on the Ba}', from whence 
the procession will take place : The dragoons and 
Artillery will proceed in front of the regiment : When 
the procession begins the Light Infantry will conduct 
the Corpse, wdth reversed arms, to the left of the regi- 
ment ; it being received, they file off to the right and 
left, and take their former post in front of the 
battalion : The whole will then march off with rever- 

13 



194 NATHANAEL GREEXE. 

sed arms, the Artillery advancing firing minute guns, 
till they arrive at the place of interment: The Dra- 
goons will flank the corpse on the right and left, Music 
playing a solemn dirge. The procession being 
arrived at the place of burial, the regiment will file 
off to the right and left, face inwards, and rest on 
their arms, so as to let the corpse, pall-bearers, 
mourners, citizens, etc., pass through : The corpse 
being deposited, and funeral rites executed, the regi- 
ment will close their files, march up on the right of 
the vault, and give three general discharges, the 
Artillery at the same time firing thirteen rounds in 
honor of this truly great and good man. The regi- 
ment will then march off with trailed arms to the 
place of parade, shoulder, and be discharged. 

BEN FISHBOURN, 

Major C. C. M. 
{The Gazette of the State of Georgia, Thursday, 
J2ine 22, ijSd.) 



Appendix D. 



The Discovery oi the Remains of 
Major- General Nathanael Greene 
First President of the Rhode 
Island Cincinnati 



ADDRESS 

BV 

HON. ASA BIRD GARDINER, LL.D., L.H.D. 

President of the Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati 



DELIVERED IN REPRESENTATIVES' CHAMBER, STATE 
HOUSE, NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, JULY FOURTH 
NINETEEN HUNDRED AND ONE, AT THE ANNUAL 
COIVIMEMORATIVE CELEBRATION OF THE SOCIETY 



Publishea by the Society 



ADDRESS 



Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner, LL.D., L.H.D., 



DISCOVERY OF THE REMAINS OF MAJOR-GENERAL 

NATHANAEL GREENE, FIRST PRESIDENT 

OF THE RHODE ISLAND CINCINNATI. 



In the session of the Rhode Island General Assem- 
bly for March 19, 1901, a resolution was passed 
designating June 6, 1901, as " Nathanael Greene 
Memorial Day in commemoration of the services 
of Major-General Nathanael Greene in securing the 
independence of the United States, and for the pur- 
pose of furthering and carrying out the plan for erect- 
ing a statue of this eminent son of Rhode Island in 
the State capitol or upon the grounds thereof." 

On this anniversary of American Independence, be- 
fore narrating the interesting circumstances con- 
nected with the recent discovery of his remains in 
Savannah, Chatham Count}', Georgia, after their lo- 
cation had been lost for over 1 14 years, we may briefly 
refer to his family and his services in the War of the 
Revolution. 

He was fifth in descent from Surgeon John Greene, 
one of the historic founders, with Roger Williams, in 



198 NATHANAEL C4REENE. 

1636, of Providence Plantations, and was born in 
Potowomut, Kent County, R. I., July 27, 1742, old 
st5"le, or August 7, 1742, new stj'le. 

In biographical dictionaries, and other books of 
reference, material discrepancies are found as to the 
exact date of his birth. 

Thus Savage gives it as May 22, 1742; while a 
number of authorities fix it on May 27, 1742, and 
others place it on June 6, 1742. 

The General Assembly of Rhode Island seems to 
have chosen the latter date. 

It remained, however, for the erudite Otis Ashmore, 
Esq., superintendent of public schools in the city of 
Savannah, Ga., in a paper which he read before the 
Georgia Historical Society on April 3, 1899, to demon- 
strate conclusiveh' that the date first above mentioned 
is the actual date of Major-General Greene's birth. 

From his entrj^ into the military service as briga- 
dier-general of this State's colonial force at the siege 
of Boston, in 1775, his military abilities were conspic- 
uous, and the Rhode Island brigade was noticeable as 
the best equipped, the best drilled, contingent there 
present under General Washington. 

It was at this early period of his military, career 
that Colonel Timothy Pickering, who had listened to 
his remarks and questions while presiding at a gen- 
eral court martial, declared he was a man of "true 
military genius." 

In the following year the Hon. William Duer, one 
of the Committee on Correspondence of the New 
York State Convention, in a communication to Lieu- 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 1!»!> 

tenant-Colonel Tench Tilghman, aide-de-camp to 
Washington, dated October 2, 1776, said: 

" I am much mistaken if he is not possessed of that 
heaven-born genius which is necessarj' to constitute a 
great general." 

It would be indeed a pleasure to review here Major- 
General Greene's military services if time did but per- 
mit. 

In October, 1777, after the battles of Brandywine 
and Germantown, L,ight horse Harry L,ee, then cap- 
tain in the First Regiment, Continental Light Dra- 
goons, on duty at army headquarters, in a letter 
remarked that Greene was " a general whose uniform 
conduct had already placed him high in the confidence 
of his chief and of the army." 

At the battle of Monmouth he commanded the 
second line, and a few days later Major James Mc- 
Henr}', military secretary' to Washington, and after- 
ward Secretary of War under President John Adams, 
in a letter dated "Camp near New Brunswick, July i, 
1778," in referring to that battle, said that Greene 
"gave the most evident and unequivocal marks of 
great militar}' worth, his dispositions were judicious, 
his judgment cool and clear, and his braver}- always 
pointed and efficacious." 

I^ater, after the battle of Rhode Island, Major-Gen- 
eral John Sullivan, in his report to Congress on 
August 31, 177S, from his headquarters at Tiverton, 
R. I., said : 



200 XATHAXAEL GREENE. 

" Major-General Greene, who commanded in the 
attack on the right, did himself the highest honor by 
the judgment and bravery he exhibited in the 
action." 

In June, 17S0, he commanded the detachment of the 
main Continental arm}- which fought the battle of 
Springfield, against L,ieutenant-General Baron de 
Knyphausen, and was thanked bj' Washington in 
General Orders dated "Army Headquarters, Sufferns, 
June 26, 1780." 

When he relinquished the di.stasteful office of quar- 
termaster-general he was, on September 30, 1780, 
thanked b}- Washington, in General Orders, for the 
"able and satisf actor}- manner in which he had dis- 
charged the duties." 

He had, on the day before, become president of the 
board of fourteen general officers which sat as a mili- 
tary commission and condemned Major John Andre, 
adjutant-general of the British ami}-, as a spy, under 
the law of nations. 

On October 14, 1780, Major-General Greene was 
assigned to the command of the department of the 
south, and it was owing to his potential services in 
that command that South Carolina and Georgia were 
rescued from British domination and retained in the 
number of States at the peace of 1783. 

Time and again he was applauded and thanked by 
Congress, and b}^ Washington, for his services in this 
command. 

Marshal the Comte de Rochambeau, who knew him 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 201 

well, in his memoirs paid him glowing tribute and 
recognized his " brilliant talent." 

Finally, when hostilities were about to cease, Wash- 
ington, in General Orders from Army Headquarters 
at Newburgh, dated January 23, 1783, expressed the 
sense he entertained of " the extraordinary abilities, 
bravery, and prudence displayed by General Greene 
in conducting the operations in the southern depart- 
ment." 

On April 23, 1783, General Greene reviewed the 
Continental forces, then encamped on James Island, 
Charleston Harbor, S. C, in the presence of the 
governor of the State and his suite, and members of 
the legislature and many ladies, including his wife, 
Mrs. Greene, and then entertained his civilian guests 
at a banquet. 

On this occasion one of the toasts which he gave 
was: 

" May the .spirit of Union prevail in the United 
States." 

The General Assembly of vSouth Carolina had pre- 
viously, on January 18, 1782, "in consideration of his 
important services," voted him 10,000 guineas, while 
the legislature of North Carolina, on April 13, 1782, 
voted him 5,000 guineas and 25,000 acres of land. 

The State of Georgia, b}- resolution of its legisla- 
ture, on May I, 1782, gave him 5,000 guineas and 
24,000 acres of land. 

This included a confiscated plantation of the Hon- 



202 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

orable John Graham, Lieutenant-Governor, who had 
adhered to the British. 

It was termed " Mulberrj- Grove," and was situated 
on the Savannah river, 12 miles above that cit}'. 

It contained dwelling houses, servants' quarters, 
outhouses and barns, and comprised 2,171 acres, being 
a fine plantation for those days. The deed from the 
State of Georgia to General Greene is dated March 5, 

1785- 

In concluding this necessarily brief reference to 
Major-General Greene's Revolutionary services, two 
or three further allusions may not be inappropriate. 

On December 26, 1783, the Governor and General 
Assembly of Rhode Island presented their " sincerest 
congratulations" upon his return to his native State, 
and remarked that he had more than justified their 
expectations by his military conduct and achieve- 
ments, so brilliant throughout the whole Revolution, 
and that the citizens of this State in particular would 
hold him dear. 

On December 17, 1783, Major-General Greene at- 
tended the meeting of the Rhode Island State Society 
of Cincinnati, in the Senate chamber of the State 
House in Providence, and was elected by his brother 
Continental officers of the Rhode Island lifie their 
president. 

He last presided over their deliberations at the an- 
nual meeting held in the State House, Newport, R. I., 
July 4, 1785, and on October 14, in the same j'ear, set 
sail for Savannah, to get his plantation in order. 

Here, at Mulberry Grove, on June 19, 1786, he died 



XATHANAEL GREENE. 203 

suddenly of a congestive chill, due to exposure in the 
fields under a hot sun. 

Brevet Major-General Anthony Wayne chanced to 
be with him at his decease, and, in a hasty note to the 
authorities of the city of Savannah, apprising thera of 
the fact, said : 

" He was great as a soldier, greater as a citizen, 
immaculate as a friend. The honors, the greatest 
honors, of war are due to his memory. Pardon this 
scrawl, my feelings are but too much affected, because 
I have seen a great and good man die." 

Singular to relate, Washington, in notifying Count 
de Rochambeau of the fact, used Waj'ne's identical 
language, and said : " He was a great and good man 
indeed." 

On Jul}^ 4, 1789, in St. Paul's Chapel on Broadway, 
Alexander Hamilton, before the New York State So- 
ciety of Cincinnati, delivered a masterful oration on 
the life and services of Major-General Greene. 

Said Hamilton : 

" It required a longer life and still greater oppor- 
tunities to have enabled him to exhibit in full day 
the vast, I had almost said the enormous, powers of 
his mind." 

Referring to Major-General Greene's bold deter- 
mination to return to South Carolina after the battle 
of Guilford Court House, instead of following Lieu- 
tenant-General Earl Cornwallis to Petersburgh, Va., 
where the latter was joined by the traitor Benedict 
Arnold, Hamilton said : 



204 NATHAXAEL GREENE. 

"This was one of those strokes that denote su- 
perior genius, and constitute the sublime of war. It 
was Scipio leaving Hannibal in Italy to overcome him 
at Carthage. 

" The success was answerable to the judicious bold- 
ness of the design. The enemy were divested of their 
acquisitions in South Carolina and Georgia with a 
rapidit}- which, if not ascertained, would be scarcely 
credible. 

" In the short space of two months all their posts 
in the interior of the country were reduced. 

" The perseverance, courage, enterprise, and re- 
source displayed b}^ the American general, in the 
course of these events, commanded the admiration 
even of his enemies. 

" In vain was he defeated in one mode of obtaining 
his object ; another was instantly sub.stituted that 
answered the end. 

" In vain was he repulsed before a besieged fort- 
ress ; he immediately found other means of compelling 
the defenders to relinquish their stronghold." 

On August 8, 17S6, Congress resolved that a monu- 
ment should be erected in honor of his patriotism, 
valor, and ability, and in 1S74 Congress decreed an 
equestrian statue, which was duly erected, in 1S77, in 
Sherman square, Washington. 

Previously, on July 2, 1864, Congress, by resolu- 
tion, invited every "State to furnish for the old hall 
of the House of Representatives, two full length mar- 
ble statues of deceased persons who have been citizens 
thereof and illu.strious for their renown," and worthy 
of national commemoration. 

One of the two statues furnished by Rhode Island 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 205 

was that of Xathanael Greene, and in presenting it, on 
behalf of his State, the late United States Senator, 
Henr}' B. Anthony, said : 

"Among those who, in the Revolutionar}' period, 
won titles to the national gratitude, never disavowed, 
he whose statue we have placed in the capitol stands, 
in the judgment of his contemporaries and b)- the 
assent of history, second only to the man who towers 
without a peer in the annals of America." 

Archdeacon Cjtus Townsend Brad}', a graduate of 
the United States Naval Academy, in the preface to 
his latest romance, recenth' published, entitled 
" When Blades Are Out and Love's Afield,"' says : 

" Next to Washington this ' New England Black- 
smith,' who so highly educated himself that, for 
relaxation, he read the Latin poets, in the original, by 
the light of the camp fire, stands as the most brilliant 
soldier-strategist, tactician, and fighter of the Revolu- 
tion. And his character was as great as his genius." 

In closing this reference to this very great man, it 
ma3' be said that his wonderful campaigns in the 
Carolinas may to-day be studied by the military stu- 
dent with even greater profit than those of Marl- 
borough, Prince Eugene, Frederick the Great, or 
Bonaparte. 

As before remarked, Major-General Greene died 
suddenly, at his plantation of Mulberry Grove, on 
June 19, 1786. 

On the following day his remains were taken by 
boat to Savannah, where they were interred in the 



206 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

Colonial cemeterj', belonging to Christ Episcopal 
Church, in the very center of the then town of Savan- 
nah, with imposing civil and military ceremonies. 

The Georgia Gazette of June 22, 1786, gives in 
detail the ceremonies at the obsequies, and mentions 
the Society of the Cincinnati in Georgia at that time, 
but since extinct, as the principal mourners. The 
entire town united in showing honor to the remains 
of this distinguished patriot, who, next to Washing- 
ton, had shown himself greatest of our generals in the 
War of the Revolution. 

The Georgia Gazette, in referring to the place of 
interment, merely used this language: "When the 
military reached the vault in which the body was to 
be entombed they opened to the right and left, and, 
resting on reverse arms, let it pass tiirough. The 
funeral services being performed and the corpse de- 
posited, thirteen discharges from the artillery and 
three from the musketr}- closed the scene. The 
whole was conducted with a solemnitj- suitable for the 
occasion." 

It is noticeable that the particular vault in which 
the remains were depo.sited is not mentioned. These 
vaults were and are brick structures, mostly with a 
portion above ground, though there are a fe^vc which 
are wholly beneath the surface. 

The cemetery was subsequently surrounded by a 
thick brick wall, of which but one side now remains, 
the wall being about twelve feet high, and toward 
which General Washington contributed to the erec- 
tion. Several years ago Christ Church gave to the 



NATHANAEL GREENE. liOT 

city of Savannah the cemetery to be made into a park, 
on condition that the remains there deposited should 
not be disturbed by the city authorities. 

Thereupon the wall was taken down on three sides 
facing upon three streets, leaving but the rear wall 
on an alleyway which separates the cemetery from the 
police barracks, and, in lieu of trees, shrubs and 
palms have been planted and walks laid out. 

When General William T. Sherman's army, on its 
march from Atlanta, Ga., came to Savannah, many of 
the vaults were opened by the soldiers, in search of 
valuables, and much wanton destruction of monu- 
ments and tablets ensued, so that to-day many of the 
vaults are without means of identification. There 
are, however, four well-known Colonial vaults, among 
others, on a line perpendicular to South Broad street, 
now Oglethorpe avenue, which in one or two instances 
have been believed to belong to particular people, but 
there was no certainty, as there were absolutely no 
marks of identification. There are also a number of 
vaults antedating 1786, of which the ownership is, for 
the reason stated, unknown. 

It is a singular fact that thirty years after the inter- 
ment of General Greene's remains their location be- 
came a question of doubt. It might be supposed that 
some of General Greene's immediate descendants who 
were in Georgia at Mulberry Grove, with his widow, 
in 1786, might have known where they had been 
placed ; but, within a very few years after his decease, 
Mrs. Nathanael Greene married Mr. Phineas Miller, 
and removed to Dungeness house, Cumberland 



208 NATHAXAEL GREENE. 

Island, Ga., with her family, 120 miles distant from 
Savannah, and for upward of forty years afterward 
none of the Greene famil)' resided in or near Savan- 
nah. 

Mrs. Phineas Miller, the general's widow, died at 
Dungeness House September 2, 1814, and the estate 
then became the property of her youngest daughter, 
Mrs. Louisa Shaw. 

The condition of the climate and surroundings at 
that time in Savannah were not conducive to longev- 
ity, and many who had been residents there in the 
Revolutionary period soon passed away. 

The place where Major-General Greene's remains 
were deposited was not indicated by any tablet, and 
in a few years all those who had attended his funeral 
were deceased. 

In April, 18 19, the city council of Savannah, 
probably with intent to place a tablet or erect a monu- 
ment, appointed a committee to ascertain the location 
of General Greene's remains. 

This committee reported that circumstances pre- 
vented a thorough investigation of the subject at that 
time, and in November the city council, apparently 
dissatisfied with the inefficienc}^ or neglect of its com- 
mittee, appointed another committee, but nothing was 
done. 

At that time yellow fever was raging in Charleston, 
while in Savannah there were, for 1819, an unusually 
large number of deaths reported of the "prevailing 
fever." 

The reason is, therefore, obvious wh}^ no investiga- 



XATHANAEL GREENE. 209 

tion of unwholesome vaults was then made, and in the 
following year, 1820, Savannah also had an epidemic 
of yellow fever. 

In 1821 William Johnson copyrighted his " lyife of 
Major-General Nathanael Greene," a work to which 
he had given special care and attention, and in the 
preparation of which he had visited all the scenes of 
General Greene's military operations and interviewed 
man}' who had been participants with him in the War 
of the Revolution. 

In reference to his obsequies Johnson uses this 
language (Vol. II., pp. 420-421) : 

" On the morning after his decease his corp.se was 
brought down by water and received on the river 
bank by the militar}' and municipalit}^ of the place. 
The citizens all followed in procession to the grave- 
3'ard, which, to the honor of Christianity', is in that 
place common to all .sects or all mankind ; and the 
funeral ceremony of the church of England was read 
over the corpse by the Honorable William Stephens, 
as there was not, at that time, a minister of the gos- 
pel in the city. 

" The body was deposited in a vault, but the iden- 
tical vault still remains a subject of inquir3^ 

" The graves and vaults are all disposed in regular 
rows, and there are four contiguous vaults in one of 
those rows, one of which four it is ascertained the 
body was deposited in, but which of them still remains 
in doubt. 

" A committee was appointed in 1820 by the mayor 
and aldermen to search for the remains, and deposit 
them, with due solemnity, in a fit receptacle, and the 
committee have made diligent researches in several of 

14 



210 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

the four designated vaults, but were prevented by 
unavoidable obstacles from extending their search to 
all. 

" The coffin is distinguished, wherever it lies, by a 
plate of silver or brass, engraved with the name and 
age in the usual manner, and it is confidently hoped 
will yet be identified." 

It will be perceived that the author, Johnson, was 
in error as to the year when the committee was 
appointed, which was 1S19 instead of 1820; neverthe- 
less, he evidently had no doubt that the remains 
would be found in one of the four Colonial vaults. 

In a footnote to this extract the author added as 
follows : 

" Judge Stephens, who performed the funeral ser- 
vices, has repeatedly told the author that the body lay 
in the tomb of the Jones'. That tomb has not yet 
been searched. But there is much evidence to prove 
that it was placed at first in that of the Grahams as 
an appendage to the confiscated estate conferred on 
him b}"- Georgia. 

" This vault afterward passed to the family of 
Mossman, who married a sister of Mrs. Graham. 

" From which the author's inquiries induce him to 
believe that it was removed under the order of Mrs. 
Mossman, but whither is unknown. There is still a 
possibilitj' that it may have been removed to that of 
the Jones'." 

Judge William Stephens, to whom the author re- 
fers, was, from 1801 to August 6, 18 19, when he died 
in Savannah, aged sixty-seven years and seven 
months, the United States district judge for Georgia. 



NATHAN AEL GREENE. 211 

When he officiated at Major-General Greene's fu- 
neral, a little over thirty-three years before, he was 
judge of the Superior Court for Chatham County, and 
grand master of the Masonic fraternity. 

It is noticeable, in Johnson's account of his inter- 
view with Judge Stephens, that the latter never stated 
that General Greene's remains were originally de- 
posited in the Jones vault. 

Probably there had been conversation on the sub- 
ject of the desirability of their removal, as the Jones 
family would have felt honored in such a final trans- 
fer. 

The Hon. Noble Wymberly Jones, who had built 
the Jones vault, had been a warm personal friend of 
Greene. 

Born in London, England, in 1724, he died in Sa- 
vannah, January 9, 1805. He was a thoroughly earn- 
est whig in the Revolution, and consistent supporter 
of Greene in the Continental Congress, to which he 
was a delegate in 1775, and again from 1781 to 1783, 
and often speaker of the Georgia legislature. 

No doubt Judge Stephens believed the transfer had 
been made, as the vaults were close together in line. 

Johnson accepted the statement that the remains 
were first deposited in the lyieutenant-Governor 
Graham-Mossman vault, and incorporated that im- 
portant fact in his narrative, and expressed the con- 
fident hope that the remains would yet be identi- 
fied. 

As we progress in this paper it will be learned that 
the representatives of the Graham-Mossman family 



212 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

always insisted that the remains had never been dis- 
turbed, but were still in their tomb. 

To the Hon. William Harden, of Savannah, who is 
librarian of the Georgia Historical Society and secre- 
tary of the Sons of the Revolution in that State, we 
are indebted for most painstaking record investigation 
and elucidation of this interesting subject. 

It is patent that the municipal committee appointed 
in April, 1819, really did nothing in the way of re- 
search, or they would have been continued and a new 
committee would not have been appointed. The ap- 
pointment of such a committee was an indirect but 
customary method of expressing legislative displeas- 
ure. 

The Hon. William Harden, who is perhaps the 
most thoroughly informed citizen in Savannah upon 
its local history, is of opinion that the first municipal 
committee, as well as the second, were afraid to make 
any special search because of the prevailing yellow 
fever. 

The municipal committee appointed in April, 1819, 
in their report, nowhere say that they examined any 
vaults, but merely that circumstances prevented any 
investigation at that time. 

In the same year the Grand Jury of the Superior 
Court for Chatham County recommended the discon- 
tinuance of burials in the Colonial cemetery, and the 
Columbian MziseJim and Savannah Gazette for Sep- 
tember 2, 1 81 9, mentions an appropriation for a plot, 
and it is a fact that those who died of yellow fever or 
other contagious or infectious diseases were not al- 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 213 

lowed to be entombed in vaults or buried in the 
Colonial cemetery. 

Before narrating events which led to the discovery 
of the remains of General Greene and of his son, 
George Washington Greene, who was drowned in the 
Savannah river, near Mulberry Grove, on March 28, 
1793, it is desirable to narrate something about Lieu- 
tenant-Governor John Graham and his family and 
clear up traditional stories in the light of rebutting 
facts. 

Lieutenant-Governor Graham and his wife, upon 
the evacuation of Savannah by the British, on July 
ir, 1782, went to England and died there, leaving no 
descendants whatever in Georgia. 

Mrs. Graham's sister was Mrs. Elizabeth Mossman, 
wife of James Mossman, of Savannah. 

All of Lieutenant-Governor John Graham's prop- 
erty had been confi.scated by the State of Georgia, and 
he attainted as a traitor ; consequently he had no 
heritable estate in Georgia to which any one could 
succeed. 

Mrs. Mossman, by reason of being a sister of Mrs. 
Graham, had no legal claim by kinship or otherwise, 
to any real property which Lieutenant-Governor 
Graham had been possessed of. 

As to the Graham vault, it would appear never to 
have been occupied by any remains prior to the plac- 
ing there of Major-General Greene's, in 1786. 

The town of Savannah was then a very small place, 
and society was extremely limited in number. 

Whether James Mossman was a mild tory or not 



214 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

history does not say. Certainly he and his wife pre- 
ferred to remain, on the evacuation by the British 
and the departure of the Governor, Sir James Wright, 
Bart., with many tory citizens, and cast their lot for 
the future with their whig neighbors. 

There have been two singular traditions concerning 
the alleged removal of General Greene's remains from 
the Graham vault, in each of which Mrs. Mossman is 
depicted as the moving and enraged spirit. 

The first is that she caused her negro slaves to 
take at midnight the remains from the vault and 
throw them into Negro creek. 

The second is that she cau.sed them to be removed 
and buried at night in a grave in the Colonial ceme- 
tery. 

It is specially noteworthy that neither of these tra- 
ditional stories was prevalent in Savannah when 
Johnson in i8rg wrote his biography of Greene. 

Historians perfectly understand that tradition is 
the most unreliable and unsubstantial of all sources 
of information, and the late search has amply justified 
this statement. 

That Mrs. Mossman was not the kind of person to 
do as ascribed in these traditions is happil}' put be- 
yond doubt by her obituary notice. ^ 

In fact, no such procedure as ascribed in these 
traditions could possibly have taken place in so small 
a community as Savannah without surely being dis- 
covered. 

Major-General Greene was too distinguished a man, 
and it would have meant ostracism and banishment, 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 215 

if not penal servitude, had such an outrage been 
attempted. There was no special sentiment concern- 
ing the Graham vault as a family vault, because it 
was a new one, and, as before remarked, no family 
remains had been deposited there. 

Mrs. Mossman was not an independent person, but 
lived with her husband. 

Her obituary notice in the Georgia Gazette for No- 
vember 25, 1802, negatives these traditional stories. 

It is as follows : 

" Died yesterda)^, aged seventy-two years, Mrs. 
Elizabeth Mossman, the worthy and much respected 
consort of James Mossman, Esq. 

" This lady was a native of the Island of St. Chris- 
topher, and has resided nearly fifty years in this 
State." 

On June 15, 1803, her husband died. In the Col- 
umbian Mtisetmi and Savannah Advertiser^ dated Sa- 
vannah, Wednesday, June 22, 1803, appears this no- 
tice : 

" Died : In this city on Wednesday evening last, 
James Mossman, Esq." 

There is no record where either he or his wife was 
buried, nor of any funeral services at their residence 
or elsewhere. 

As was too common in Savannah at that time, one 
or both probably died of yellow fever, or of a conta- 
gious disease, because no announcement of a funeral 
is made. They were presumably buried in common 
ground, and record of burial is lost. 



216 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

His will is dated June i, 1801, and mentions his 
nephew, Philip Young, and others, none of whom 
were then in the United States ; accordingly, for this 
reason, an administrator w^as appointed. 

Philip Young subsequently returned, and died in 
Savannah on July 24, 18 19, aged fifty-six years, and 
in his obituary notice in the Colwnbian Museum and 
Savannah Gazette of Monday, August, 5, 18 19, it is 
stated that he was a nephew of the late James Moss- 
man. He left a widow and a sister, and also a son 
and daughter, hereinafter to be mentioned. 

He apparently died of the "prevailing fever," and 
his remains were required to be buried in the common 
burying ground for yellow fever cases, and conse- 
quently the record of the place of burial has been 
lost. 

Accordingly, when his daughter, Miss Jane Mar- 
garet Young, procured a lot in the new L,aurel Grove 
cemetery, and removed her mother's, Mrs. Jane 
Young's, remains there, and her aunt's, Mrs. Mar- 
garet Scott's, and her brother's, Philip Young, Jr., 
she could not find where her father's were buried to 
do likewise. By her will she left $500 to put a monu- 
ment over her brother's grave, who had died in 1838. 

This little genealogical reference is importaiif, as 
will hereafter be seen. 

To recapitulate : 

Philip Young, Sr., nephew of James Mossman, of 
the Revolutionary period (who had married the sister 
of Mrs. John Graham), upon d5'ing of yellow fever in 
1819, left: 



XATHAXAEL GREENE. 217 

1. A widow, Jane Young, who died in 1858 ; 

2. A son, Philip Young, Jr., above mentioned, who 
died in October, 1838 ; 

3. A sister, Margaret, wife of Robert Scott, who 
survived her husband and died in Savannah, February 
24, 1862, aged eighty-two years; and 

4. A daughter. Miss Jane Margaret Young, above 
mentioned, who died June 23, 1893, aged seventy- 
eight years. 

All these four bodies are buried in Laurel Grove 
cemetery, because burials in the Colonial cemetery, at 
the dates of their decease, were forbidden. 

The remains of Robert Scott, husband of Margaret 
Young, were placed in the Graham-Mossman vault 
when interment there was permitted, but were not re- 
moved by Miss Jane Margaret Young from that vault, 
to be placed beside those of his wife, Margaret Scott, 
in Laurel Grove cemetery, after the latter's decease in 
1862. 

No reason is known why Miss Jane Margaret 
Young did not remove the remains of her uncle by 
marriage, Robert Scott, from the Graham-Mossman 
vault and place them alongside his wife's remains in 
Laurel Grove cemetery. 

Robert Scott was of the firm of Scott & Balfour, 
merchants in Savannah, and well known to some of 
the present surviving older residents of that city. 

He died June 5, 1845, aged seventy years. 

In T/ie Georgian, a newspaper published in Savan- 
nah on June 6, 1845, the burial was announced to 



218 XATHAXAEL GREENE. 

take place from 33 Bay street, the home of Mrs. Jane 
Young, at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. 

This explains whj^ Robert Scott was buried in the 
Graham-Mossman vault, which had never been 
claimed by the Greene familj- after General Greene's 
.son was buried there in 1793. 

A particularly interesting fact in this connection is 
that Miss Jane Margaret Young frequently positively 
declared to Mrs. T. F. Screven, of Savannah, and to 
others still surviving, that all the talk about General 
Greene's remains having been removed was idle gos- 
sip, and that the body rested in her family vault in 
the Colonial cemetery. 

Although Miss Jane Margaret Young procured, as 
before stated, a lot in Laurel Grove cemetery, it will 
be perceived that no remains in the Colonial Graham- 
Massman vault were ever disturbed. 

This Colonial cemeterj', now bright and cheery 
under a southern sun, and, although without trees, 
adorned with semi-tropical palms and shrubs, and 
the daily pla5'ground of happy children around its 
vaults and gravestones and over its grassy plots, still 
exhibits many of the inexcusable marks of desecra- 
tion of General Sherman's troops — headstones de- 
faced, marble tablets removed from vaults aad de- 
stroyed, and manj^ vaults broken into and wrecked, 
remaining to-daj^ as the}' were left in 1865. 

As to the Colonial vaults, no one in recent years 
knew to whom three of the four belonged, nor which 
was the Graham-Mossman vault. As to the fourth, 
or Jones vault, it was supposed to be the second in 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 219 

the row from Oglethorpe avenue. This supposition 
afterward proved incorrect. 

The representative of that family is W5'mberly 
Jones de Renne, Esq.. of Savannah. His father, the 
late George Wymberl}- Jones de Renne, Esq., who 
died in July, 1880, removed, several years before his 
decease, the remains of all the members of his family 
from the Jones vault to Bonaventure cemetery, and 
told the Hon. William Harden and others that he 
had no difficulty in identifying every body. The 
vault was then reclosed. 

In 1840, the late George G. Johnstone, of Savannah, 
who had married a granddaughter of Major-General 
Greene, and the late Phineas Miller Nightingale, 
grandson of Major-General Greene, and half-brother 
to Mr. Johnstone's wife, in the desire to find his re- 
mains, made some effort at inquiry and investigation, 
which was very inconclusive, as they were without 
authority for systematic search. It does not appear 
that they opened any vaults whatever. 

In February, 1818, Niles Register (Vol. XIV., p. 
15) announced that a " subscription had been opened 
at Savannah to erect a monument over the remains of 
General Greene, who was next only to one in build- 
ing up the Republic." 

In 1837-8, an obelisk was erected in Savannah, in- 
tended to serve as a monument both for Greene and 
for Count Casimir Pulaski, commandant of the First 
Battalion, Continental Legion, who was killed in the 
assault on Savannah in October, 1779. 

In 1853, however, a cornerstone for a separate 



220 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

monument to Pulaski was laid in Monterey square, 
and thereafter the original monument was dedicated 
to Greene, and in 1886 appropriate bronze commemo- 
rative tablets were affixed by the Chatham Artillery. 

It would be supposed that at the time the monu- 
ment was erected an effort would have been made to 
find his remains to place beneath it, but nothing was 
attempted. 

Last summer the inquiry was again made through 
the Savannah press. 

Thereupon all sorts of traditionary and apocryphal 
stories were gravely put forth. 

In August, 1890, an old gentleman named A. R. 
Wright, of Atlanta, Ga., now in his ninetieth 3'ear, 
went to Savannah and endeavored to point out to the 
Hon. William Harden a certain spot in the Colonial 
cemetery, near the corner of Oglethorpe avenue and 
Bull street, where he said a mound had existed, over 
which he had played as a bo}^, and which was then 
understood by the boys, according to tradition, to be 
General Greene's grave. 

After the lapse of over eighty years he was unable 
to locate positively the place. 

This old gentleman had for sevent}- years been a 
member of the Chatham Artillery, which had,a<:ted as 
escort at General Greene's funeral. 

Another tradition was that the remains had been 
taken secretly to Cumberland Island, Ga., and several 
persons asserted positively that they had seen the 
tombstone there. 

This tombstone is, however, that of General 



XATHANAEL GREENE. 221 

Greene's widow, on which his name appears in large 
characters, and therefore, from a cursory inspection, 
would appear to be his. A cenotaph to his memor}^ 
has also added to the belief in his burial there. 

It is proper here to remark that the entire story as 
to the removal of the remains to Cumberland Island, 
Ga., narrated through the Savannah Press last Feb- 
ruary and March by one A. B. Goodwin, of Savannah, 
as hearsay upon hearsay, told j-ears before in a tavern 
in St. Marys, Ga., was disproved, not only by the im- 
probable character of many of the alleged particulars, 
which frequently varied in the narration by the said 
Goodwin in recent interviews, but also by the positive 
statements of Robert T3'ler Waller, Esq., and other 
members and connections of the Greene family, 
including the late Venerable and Honorable Nathanael 
Greene, M. D., LL. D., as well as others who had 
visited that island, and by the declaration, equally 
positive, of Daniel G. Purse, Esq., of Savannah, who 
for ten j-ears was trustee for that estate and resided 
there ; the committee also having a complete record 
of all the recorded burials at Cumberland Island, 
including that of General Harry Eee, " Light Horse 
Harry." of the Continental Dragoons of the Revolu- 
tion. 

The late president of Rhode Island State Society 
of the Cincinnati, the \'enerable and Honorable 
Nathanael Greene, last mentioned, grandson of Major- 
General Greene, was born at Dungeness House, 
Cumberland Island, Ga., June 2, 1809, and died in 



222 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

Middletown, R. I., July 8, 1899, in his ninety-first 
3'ear. 

He remembered his grandmother Greene, and spent 
much of his early life at Cumberland Island and 
Savannah, Ga., and, except during the period of the 
War of the Rebellion, was for about seventy j^ears 
accustomed to go there every 5'ear. 

He was very desirous of a thorough search being 
made for his grandfather's remains, feeling sure they 
would be discovered where originally deposited, if the 
Graham vault could be found. 

On several occasions he gave the present president 
of the society ( as told him by his own father, 
Nathanael Ra}" Greene) a description of the remark- 
able head of his grandfather and its unusual brain 
development and dome-like skull, such as is found de- 
picted in the original portrait, painted by Sully, and 
now in possession of his descendants, the Nightingale 
family. 

This remarkable head, it is proper to remark, is, 
from the eyes upward, of the same conformation as 
that of Cuvier, Humboldt, Bonaparte, and Daniel 
Webster — once seen, never to be forgotten. 

In con.sequence of the inquiry- suggested by the 
press of Savannah, the Rhode Island State Society of 
the Cincinnati adopted resolutions for the appoint- 
ment of a committee, the preamble to which explained 
the objects, as follows : 

" IVheiras, after diligent inquiry, it is believed that 
full investigation has never yet been made to ascer- 
tain definitely where the remains of Major-General 



NATHANAEL GKEENE. 223 

Nathanael Greene, president of the Rhode Island 
State Society of Cincinnati, were deposited after his 
decease at Mnlberry Grove, Ga., in 1786 ; 

" A7id, Whereas, it is believed that a thorough 
search of the four old burial vaults in the old ceme- 
tery now forming a part of Colonial Park, Savannah, 
Ga., will determine whether the remains are deposited 
in a certain one of the said vaults as believed by per- 
sons well informed in matters of local history and as 
substantiated b}' authentic record ; 

" A7id, Whereas, it is particularly appropriate that 
the Society of Cincinnati in the State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations should do whatever may 
be necessarj' toward ascertaining the burial place of 
its first president, the great patriot and soldier, who, 
next to Washington, aided so potentially in securing 
the independence of the United States." 

The society thereupon appointed a committee to 
make the inquiry and appropriated the necessary 
funds to carry it into effect. 

This committee consisted of the Hon. George Ander- 
son Mercer, A. M., president of the Georgia Histori- 
cal Society ; the Hon. Waker G. Charlton, A. M., 
president of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution 
in the State of Georgia, both of whom are eminent 
members of the Georgia bar; the Hon. Philip Dicken- 
son Baffin, chairman of the Savannah Park and Tree 
Commission ; the Hon. William Harden, secretar}^ of 
the Societ}' of the Sons of the Revolution in the State 
of Georgia and librarian of its Historical Society ; 
Mr. Alfred Bearing Harden, A. B., LL. B., of the 
Savannah bar, member of the South Carolina State 



224 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

Society of the Cincinnati, with the president of the 
Rhode Island Cincinnati as chairman. 

These gentlemen entered heartily into the subject 
of the inquiry, and carefully weighed and considered 
everything of a traditional nature on this subject, in 
order that if the special search which was desired 
should prove ineffective, then such weight should be 
given to the traditional stories as their peculiar 
character might warrant. The direct intention of the 
committee from the outset, as will be hereinafter set 
forth, was to find the Graham-Mossman vault, if 
possible, and also examine the supposed Jones vault, 
as to which punctilious courtesy required that the 
examination should be delayed until the last, in order 
to communicate with the proper descendant of the 
original owner of the supposed Jones vault. 

The greatest interest was manifested by the people 
of the city of Savannah. 

Several members of the committee were always 
present and a large concourse of citizens, and among 
those who attended to witness the investigation were 
the Hon. Thomas Manson Norwood, judge of the City 
Court and former United States Senator, 1871-1877, 
who came several times ; the Hon. Robert Falligant, 
judge of the Superior Court and member of the North 
Carolina State Society of the Cincinnati ; the Hon. 
Pope Barrow, former United States Senator, and Cap- 
tain Thomas Screven. The committee were con- 
tinuously and ably assisted b}- Robert Tyler Waller, 
Esq., grandson of ex-President John Tyler, who 
married Emily Greene Johnstone, a great-grand- 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 225 

daughter of Major-General Greene. Mr. Waller re- 
sides in Savannah, and represented the branch of the 
Greene family in Georgia. 

The chairman of the committee, by reason of being 
a member of the Greene family, although not de- 
scended from General Greene, represented, at their 
request, his descendants resident in Rhode Island. 

Otis Ashmore, Esq., superintendent of schools, and 
Edward J. Kelly, Esq., of Savannah, also continuously 
assisted. 

The committee's attention was first given to exami- 
nation of the many vaults, including one known as 
the Dr. Donald MacEeod vault, and others, where, 
according to tradition, the remains had been de- 
posited. 

Many of these vaults were found to be in a very 
bad condition for want of proper repairs. The most 
careful scrutiny, nevertheless, was made in a reverent 
and proper manner, and records kept of the coffin- 
plates which were found, to the gratification of many 
in Savannah, who, in the absence of distinguishing 
marks to those vaults, owing to the vandalism before 
referred to, did not know with certainty where the re- 
mains of certain members of their families had been 
deposited. Every vault was immediately reclosed 
with cemented brick, on conclusion of examination, 
before another vault was opened. 

The labor was exclusively performed through the 
Park and Tree Commission, under the immediate 
charge of Mr. William H. Robertson, chief clerk and 
deputy to that commission, and the trusted employees 



2-26 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

of that commission were alone employed in the im- 
portant work of examining the remains in the vaults, 
all under the personal supervision of the committee. 

Finally, after all the vaults where tradition, or 
statements more or less positive by citizens, averred 
that the remains were deposited had been critically 
and carefully examined, the committee gave its ex- 
clusive attention to the four "Colonial" vaults in a 
row, located at right angle to Oglethorpe avenue. 

The first of these, nearest to that avenue, although 
like the rest without distinguishing mark, was found 
to be the family vault of Colonel Richard Wylly, 
Deputy Quartermaster-General of the Continental 
Army in the Revolution, and member of the Georgia 
State Society of the Cincinnati. 

His remains and coffin-plate were there found. 

The next in line was supposed to be the Jones 
vault, and its examination, as a matter of courtesy, 
was deferred b}'^ the committee until the last, in order 
to communicate first with Wymberly Jones de Renne, 
Esq., proper representative of that famil}'. 

The third vault in line, upon being opened, was 
found to be empty ; but the committee afterward as- 
certained that this vault was really the "Jones" 
vault, from which all remains, properlj^ identified, 
had been removed, as before stated, to Bonaventure 
cemetery, by the late George Wymberly Jones de 
Renne, Esq. 

The fourth vault in line was found to be that of an 
old Savannah family, the Thiot family, whose repre- 
sentatives still reside there. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 227 

The committee then gave its final attention to the 
.second vault in line, which was opened at the front, 
to permit workmen to enter, and a smaller opening 
was made through the rear brick wall to permit en- 
trance of light and air. In the centre of the vault were 
found probably a cartload of broken bricks, which 
had first to be removed. 

Upon examination there was found on one side a 
casket in a remarkable state of preservation, contain- 
ing the remains of Robert Scott, who died June 5, 
1845, fifty-six years ago, aged seventy. The silver 
plate to his coffin was hardly discolored. 

On the other side of the vault nearest the wall were 
noticed the rotting fragments of a coffin. Upon these 
being removed there appeared a man's skeleton quite 
intact, except some of the smaller ribs, which clearly 
showed that his body had never been disturbed. 

The two experienced workmen employed inside of 
the vault were Charles C. Gattman and Edward W. 
Keenan. 

As the fragments of the coffin were removed from 
the remains, they both exclaimed as to the remark- 
ably prominent configuration of the skull. 

Mr. Edward J. Kelly, who was watching the pro- 
ceeding through the opening, at once noticed the 
same fact, and called the attention of the chairman 
and other members of the committee present, to this 
circumstance. The workmen then removed the re- 
maining fragments of the coffin and looked for the 
plate, which was found where it should be, sunk 
down among the bones of the breast. As Mr. Gatt- 



228 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

man passed this plate up through the opening he ex- 
amined it in the bright sunlight, and remarked that 
he noticed the date " 1786," he not knowing that this 
was the date of General Greene's decease. The plate 
is silver gilt, which is quite distinguishable upon the 
reverse side. 

Upon the face are not only the figures 1786, but 
also, upon careful inspection, members of the com- 
mittee and Messrs. Waller and Kelly discovered the 
letters "reene," the final termination of the word 
" Greene," in proper position, and Mr. W. G. Charl- 
ton believed he could make out, after very close 
scrunity in bright sunlight, the preceding letters 
"ael" of the word " Nathanael." 

Some of the bones crumbled upon being handled, 
but the larger bones and skull and jaw bones were 
all preserved. 

Search was then made for metal buttons, as it was 
reasonably presumed that he had been buried in his 
uniform as a major-general of the Continental army. 

Three metal buttons were discovered, badly cor- 
roded, upon one of which, however, could be very 
faintly discerned the form of an eagle, which was the 
distinguishing mark upon the buttons of a major- 
general. ^ 

An article by the present president of the Rhode 
Island Cincinnati, in the Magazine of American His- 
tory for 1883 (Vol. IX., p. 281), on this subject, de- 
scribes the buttons prescribed for the uniform of 
general officers in the War of the Revolution. 

In no other vault, and in no other examination of 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 229 

the remains of the man}- examined, were there other 
than wooden buttons found, which had originally 
been covered with silk, cloth, or velvet. 

Another peculiarly significant fact, which cannot be 
overlooked, was the discovery of fragments of heavy 
white silk gloves, much discolored, and containing 
the bones of the fingers. 

These gloves were such as general officers in the 
F'rench army would have worn, and were, doubtless, 
a present from the Marquis de Lafayette to Major- 
General Greene, in 17S4-5. The marquis was accus- 
tomed to make presents to his brother officers in the 
Revolutionary army, and every time he returned to 
the United States he brought a great many gifts of 
a military character. Among other things, he gave 
Major-General Greene a number of silver camp mugs 
or cups, such as were used by the Marshals of France. 
These were preserved in the family of the late Pro- 
fessor George Washington Greene in Rhode Island. 
Lafayette's very deep attachment for Greene is well 
authenticated. 

The Rhode Island Cincinnati entertained him in 
Newport in October, 1784, on his arrival after the 
Revolution, and he saw General Greene while then in 
the United States. 

When he came again, in 1824, he gave to General 
Greene's youngest daughter, Mrs. Louisa Shaw, a 
steel-plate engraving of her father with this inscrip- 
tion in Lafayette's well-known handwriting, viz. : 



23(» NATHANAEL GREENE. 

"To Dear Mrs. Shaw: 

" From her father's most intimate friend and com- 
panion in arms, 

" lyA Fayette." 

This is now in possession of Mrs. Robert Tyler 
Waller, great-granddaughter of General Greene, 320 
Huntington street, East, Savannah, Ga. 

After the examination of Major-General Greene's 
remains had been concluded, all the mould and bones 
were carefully collected and put temporarily in a box 
procured for the purpose, the cover to which was 
securely nailed. 

The workmen reported another body alongside, 
with fragments of a cofhn. Upon these fragments 
being removed, Mr. Gattman, who had had much ex- 
perience in that business, remarked that they were 
the remains of a male person probably eighteen or 
nineteen years of age. he not knowing that Major- 
General Greene's son, George Washington Greene, 
had been drowned in the Savannah river, off Mulberry 
Grove, on March 28, 1793, in the eighteenth year of 
his age, and his remains interred alongside of his 
father's. 

Most of those bones crumbled upon being handled. 
They were, however, carefully collected with all the 
mould, and put in another box, which was nailed up. 
The coffin-plate, not being of silver, was too badly 
corroded to enable anything to be deciphered upon it. 

The boxes were removed to the police barracks, 
near by, and placed over night under the care of the 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 281 

captain of police and the vault rebricked and sealed. 
These proceedings were all witnessed by a consider- 
able concourse of people. 

On the following day suitable boxes were procured, 
zinc-lined, and taken to the police barracks, and Mr. 
Keenan, who had assisted in the vault, in a room put 
at the service of the committee and in the presence of 
the lieutenant of police and other policemen, and the 
members of the committee and the press, and W. T. 
Dixon, undertaker, of 15 Perry street. East, and his 
assistants, carefully removed the remains of Major- 
General Greene to a zinc-lined box prepared for the 
purpose. In doing so Mr. Otis Ashmore, assisted by 
Mr. Edward J. Kelly, made measurements of the 
skull, which corresponded to the details in Sully's 
original portrait of Major-General Nathanael Greene, 
and the statements made by the late Hon. Nathanael 
Greene, and other members of the Greene family. 

In the " lyife of Major-General Nathanael Greene," 
by his grandson, the late Professor George Washing- 
ton Greene, LL. D., of East Greenwich, R. I., there 
will be found, as a frontispiece (Volume I.), a portrait 
of General Greene, the skull of which exactly corre- 
sponds to the one found. 

My lamented friend, the late Colonel John Screven, 
of Savannah, president of the Georgia Sons of the 
Revolution, had proposed to make this investigation, 
and repeatedly declared that General Greene's re- 
mains would be recognized by his skull. It was of 
the same distinctive character, as before remarked, of 
Buonaparte, Humboldt, Cuvier, and Daniel Webster. 



232 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

The teeth, both upper and lower, were remarkably 
well preserved in a jaw which showed great determi- 
nation and firmness of character, and in the judgment 
of Otis Ashmore, Esq., and others, clearly indicated 
the age to be about forty-five years. 

After the remains of Major-General Greene had 
been deposited in the zinc-lined box, the zinc cover 
was placed upon the box and soldered in its place, 
the wooden cover was then screwed down, handles 
put to the ends of the box and a coffin-plate put upon 
it bearing the inscription : 

"MAJOR-GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE, 

Born August 7, 1742, 
Died June 19, 1786." 

In like manner the remains of George Washington 
Greene were transferred to the other zinc-lined box, 
which was closed in like manner, the coffin-plate con- 
taining the inscription : 

"GEORGE WASHINGTON GREENE, 
Son of Major-General Nathanael Greene." 

The remains were then taken by Mr. Dixon, the 
undertaker, in his wagon, accompanied by members 
of the committee and the press, to the Southern ^ank 
of the State of Georgia, which is a depository of the 
city of Savannah. Here they were received by Horace 
A. Crane, Esq., vice-president, and James Sullivan, 
Esq., cashier, and taken, in the presence of those gen- 
tlemen and of the committee, and deposited in the 
safe deposit vault of the bank, where they remain 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 233 

subject to the order of the chairman and Alfred Bear- 
ing Harden, Esq., of the committee, as trustees. 

After the remains had been discovered and disposed 
of, on Monday, March 4, the committee met in final 
session at the residence of the Hon. George Anderson 
Mercer, and immediatel}' afterward, at a meeting of 
the Historical Society of Georgia, which was numer- 
ously attended, he, as president of the society, an- 
nounced, on behalf of the committee, the di.scovery 
of the remains. 

The extremely important fact of the discovery of 
the remains of Mr. Robert Scott in this vault, who 
had married the neice of James Mossman, and had 
been buried from the Young residence, leaves no 
doubt whatever that this Colonial vault was the 
Graham-Mossman vault, and that the empty vault 
adjoining was the Jones vault. 

When the Graham-Mossman vault was opened and 
the remains of Robert Scott discovered there, the com- 
mittee did not then know his connection with that 
family, and, in the absence of Wymberly Jones de 
Renne, Esq., were unable to ascertain what connec- 
tion, if any, he had with the Jones family. 

Accordingly the chairman, in an official report to 
the Hon. William Gregory, Governor of the State of 
Rhode Island, dated March 13, 1901, assumed that 
that vault, instead of the empty one, was the Jones 
vault, from whence the remains of all members of the 
Jones family had been removed by the late George 
Wymberly Jones de Renne. Esq. 



234 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

The committee, however, desired to know how 
Robert Scott's remains got into that vault. 

Accordingl}^, the Honorable William Harden made 
careful search through probate and other court 
records, cemetery records and inscriptions, and news- 
papers of the day, with the indisputable results here- 
inbefore recited as to the Graham-Mossman family. 

Lovers of historical truth cannot but be gratified at 
his painstaking and successful eflForts, which had fully 
borne out the repeated declarations of Miss Jane Mar- 
garet Young that, when proper search should be made, 
Major-General Greene's remains would be found in 
her family vault, the Graham-Mossman vault. 

It has been hereinbefore remarked that many 
vaults were opened and remains disturbed in 1865 in 
the search for valuables supposed to be there con- 
cealed. 

Several indications lead, however, to the conclusion 
that the Graham-Mossman vault was never disturbed. 

The brickwork had no appearance of having been 
broken through ; but, even had an opening been 
effected, the vault would, on a cursory inspection, 
have appeared to be abandoned, as most of the in- 
terior was filled with broken brick, although how the 
brick got there is a mystery. ^ 

In any cursory inspection the bodies would not 
have been distinguishable in the darkness, as they 
were against the sides of the vault. 

If any previous search was ever made in that vault 
for General Greene's remains, of which there is no 
record, the little coffin -plate w^as evidently not dis- 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 235 

covered, as it laid among the remains on the ground, 
in the mould, with fragments of the coffin over it. 
Nothing could have been deciphered upon inspecting 
the plate without closest scrutiny under the bright 
sun, and there is no record whatever of any such dis- 
covery or scrutiny. 

In conclusion, the committee, appointed by the 
Rhode Island Cincinnati, are indeed happy that their 
labors have resulted so successfully, and they have no 
doubt that all lovers of our country will rejoice with 
them. 

It will be observed that the details of this matter, 
some of which ma}- appear inconsequential, have been 
given with great particularity, because in a matter of 
historj- they are necessary. 

Had the Georgia Gazette of 1786 mentioned the 
particular vault w^here General Greene's remains had 
been deposited, there would then never have been anj^ 
doubt upon the subject. 

The coffin-plate of Major-General Greene, having 
been submitted to careful scientific restoration in order 
to remove the incrustation due to sulphuretted hydro- 
gen, and then photographed, presents the following 
inscription : 

"NATHANAEL GREENE, 

"Obit. June ig, 1786. 

" Aetat 44 years." 

No decision has yet been reached as to where these 
honored remains shall finally be deposited, whether 
under the obelisk in Savannah or under the eques- 



236 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

trian statue in Washington, or under the new monu- 
ment about to be erected at the State capitol of 
Greene's native State, or under the proposed monu- 
ment on the Guilford Court House battle ground. 

In any final determination the Rhode Island State 
Society of the Cincinnati propose to make no sug- 
gestion, but to leave the subject wholly with Major- 
General Greene's direct descendants, after due con- 
sultation, as seems most suitable, with the governors 
of the States of Rhode Island and Georgia res- 
pectively. 



Appendix E. 



IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF CHATHAM 

COUNTY. 

John Williamson, et al., 

Complainants, 

a7id 

The mayor and Aldermen of the City of 

Savannah, 

Defendant. 



The Church Wardens and Vestrymen of the 

Episcopal Church in Savannah, Called 

Christ Church, 

Complainants, 

a?id 

The Mayor and Aldermen of the City of 

Savannah, 

Defendant. 



FINAL DECREE. 

Said causes came on to be heard on pleadings and 
proof, having by consent of all parties been taken 
from the suspense docket, and put on the trial docket, 
and all parties hereto consenting that His Honor, 



238 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

Judge Robert Falligant shall preside in these causes, 
and further consenting that said causes be heard and 
determined by him as one cause, and without a jury, 
and that this decree be rendered as final and conclu- 
sive. 

It is Ordered, Adjudged, and Decreed : 
I. That the certain piece of ground on the south- 
east corner of South Broad and Abercorn Streets, in 
the City of Savannah, Georgia, known as the " Old 
Cemetery," being now enclosed by a brick wall, but 
embracing also, an open strip of land on South Broad 
Street, lying between the brick wall (parallel to said 
street), and the edge of the pavement, (along said 
street), and extending from Abercorn Street to the 
Police Barracks, said whole tract of land being 
bounded, on the north by South Broad Street, on the 
east by the Police Barracks, and the Jail, on the south 
by the Pound property belonging to the Mayor and 
Aldermen of the City of Savannah, and on the west, 
by Abercorn Street, a plat of which is filed as part of 
this decree, is declared to be owned by the Mayor and 
Aldermen of the City of Savannah, and the title of 
the same in said municipal corporation is hereby 
fixed and confirmed, absolutely. The Church Wardens 
and Vestrymen of the Episcopal Church in Savannah^ 
called Christ Church, having waived its right and title 
to the portion of said Old Cemetery mentioned in its 
bill, for the considerations hereinafter mentioned, and 
particularly, because of the covenants hereinafter 
made by the said Mayor and Aldermen of the Cit}' 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 2B9 

of Savannah to forever preserve said ground as a final 
resting place of the dead, now buried therein. 

2. That, in full extinguishment of all right, title, 
interest, claim or demand of the Church Wardens and 
Vestrymen of the Episcopal Church in Savannah, 
called Christ Church, in or to any portion of said 
tract of land, the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of 
Savannah, shall pay the said first named corporation, 
or to its council of record, the sum of Sixty five hun- 
dred dollars ($6500), in promissory notes, to be duly 
executed by said The Mayor and Aldermen of the 
City of Savannah, through its Mayor, attested by the 
Clerk of Council, with the corporate seal affixed, and 
in pursuance of a resolution to be passed by said The 
Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah, in 
council assembled, said notes to be as follows : 

One note for one thousand ($1000) dollars, due 
January first, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven 
(1897), without grace ; 

One note for one thousand ($1000) dollars, due 
January first. Eighteen Hundred and ninety-eight, 
(1898), without grace ; 

One note for one thousand ($1000) dollars, due 
January first, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine 
(1899), vvithout grace; 

One note for one thousand ($1000) dollars, due 
January first, nineteen hundred (1900), without grace ; 

One note for one thousand ($1000) dollars, due 
January first, Nineteen hundred and one (1901), 
without grace ; 

One note for Fifteen hundred ($1500) dollars, due 



240 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

January first, Nineteen hundred and two (1902), 
without grace, said notes bearing interest at the rate 
of five (5) per centum per annum, from January first 
Eighteen hundred and ninety-six (1896) payable 
semi-annually, without grace, on the first days of 
July and January of each year thereafter, up to the 
date of their respective maturities ; and upon the pay- 
ment of said notes the Church Wardens and Vestry- 
men of the Episcopal Church in Savannah, called 
Christ Church shall have no further claim of any 
kind whatsoever in or upon said tract of land, or any 
part thereof, so long as said Mayor and Aldermen 
of the City of Savannah shall keep the covenants in 
regard to the preservation of said ground as the last 
resting place of the dead therein buried, and all and 
singular, the covenants of this decrecmentioned, the 
said covenants being part and parcel of the considera- 
tion moving to said church. 

3. That, immediately after the delivery of said 
promissory notes, the said municipal corporation, The 
Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah, shall 
have the right to tear down the walls, or any portion 
of same, upon said tract of land, and to use and con- 
trol all of said tract up to the line of the present wall 
on Abercorn Street, and up to the line of the present 
side- walk on South Broad Street, as a public park, to 
be called " Colonial Park," to and for which uses and 
purposes said land is hereby perpetually dedicated, 
and to and for no other u.ses or purposes whatsoever, 
with full right to said municipal corporation, to lay 
oiT walks through the same, but it shall never have 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 241 

the right to lay off, run or project streets through the 
same, nor shall it have the right to convey or sell 
said tract, or any lot or portion of the same, to any 
person or persons whatsoever, said park to be under 
such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by 
ordinances of the City of Savannah, or by its duh^ 
constituted authorities, the present line on Aber- 
corn street whereon the brick wall now is to be 
preserved, said Abercorn street never to be widened 
along said line, the graves, tombstones monuments, 
vaults and gravehouses now in said enclosure, to be 
preserved and cared for, as valued relics of public and 
historical interest, by said municipal corporation, and 
not to be removed from their present location, res- 
pectively, to any other portion of said park, except 
when absolutely necessary for the laying out of 
walks, and in such event, the removal to be carefully 
made, so as to put the same, or any remains therein, 
in the same condition, as before said removal. The 
use of the word "park" and the government by 
municipal ordinances are never to be construed as 
divesting the grounds herein considered, of the status 
they now have, as the old colonial burying ground of 
Georgia : whilst beautifying the same and placing it 
under proper control, and giving to the public free 
access, the main consideration of this agreement to 
which the parties hereto have arrived, and upon which 
this decree is based, is that said Old Cemetery, under 
whatever name called, shall be forever kept and main- 
tained by said City of Savannah for the purpose 
herein specified, and no use shall ever be imposed 



242 NATHANAEL GREENE. 

upon it irreconcilable with said purpose, nor shall 
said Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah, 
nor any person under or through it, directly or 
indirectly, under any ordinance, claim or pretense, 
ever have or derive any profit from said ground or 
any use thereof ; nor shall any structure building, 
apparatus, or appliance, disconnected from or foreign 
to a burial ground or park, be ever erected in or upon 
the same, nor shall any vehicles be permitted within 
the same. 

4. That all the foregoing shall be conditions, and 
covenants running with said land, and if, at any time 
in the future said municipal corporation should lay 
off or project any street, or streets, of said city 
through said land, or should violate this decree, by 
selling or conveying said land, or an}- lot or portion of 
the same, then, and in such event, that portion of said 
property, being on the corner of South Broad and 
Abercorn Streets, a parallelogram in shape, contain- 
ing a western front on Abercorn Street, of two 
hundred and ten (210) feet from the corner of the 
present brick wall, and a rectangular depth eastward, 
of three hundred and eighty (380) feet, shall, at once, 
be and become the property of the Church Wardens 
and Vestrymen of the Episcopal Church in Savannah, 
called Christ Church, in fee simple ; it being the 
intention of this decree to fix, j^ermanently, the status 
of said property for the uses and purpo.ses of a public 
park, and to prevent any change in such uses and 
purposes, at any time in the future, and any citizen of 
the State of Georgia, upon the breach of any of said 






k- ^'-- 



■:^viKt V. 



SOOTH 0/{OAD sr. 




State of Georgia, ( 
Chatham County / 

fOl ^oZ o^ Suu^/n^ o/j Xn^M^ as o/d Cemetery ,>j jri^ i^ 

f ^^JLaiid. ItTU 'f:^ So»f>^ £ji/- corner of- Jii-nt,rr> and Sol,//) Sro nd S/rcf/s 

-Me Sevens <s^ 






A^ ve/riber' 



///< 




Nolv /atoja/i 



HecorJed Folio //« J" 






(V 



j . -4 I ^ X^-^^ X^ 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 243 

covenants, shall be at liberty to apply for an injunc- 
tion against said Cit}^ of Savannah, restraining it 
from any such perversion of the uses of said grounds, 
and his rights to said injunction (the fact being estab- 
lished) are hereby conceded, as part of the considera- 
tion of this decree. 

5. That the costs of these causes be paid by the 
Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah. 
This November 9, 1895, 

R. FALLIGANT, 

Judge E. J. C. of Geo. 

We consent that the above decree be signed by 
Judge Falligant This November 9, 1895. 

Waltkr G. Charlton, 

Solr.foj' Complaina7its. 

Saml. B. Adams, 

Atty.for Defendant. 

I, A. N. Manucy, Clerk of Council, do certify that 
the foregoing is the proposed decree of the Superior 
Court of Chatham County to be taken in the case of 
John Williamson, et a/., complainants, and The Maj-or 
and Aldermen of the Cit}' of Savannah, defendant, 
and The Church Wardens and Vestrymen of the 
Episcopal Church in Savannah, called Christ Church, 
Complainants, and The Mayor and Aldermen of the 
City of Savannah, defendant, consolidated, as agreed 
upon and approved by the Mayor and Aldermen of 



244 MATHANAEL GREENE. 

the City of Savannah, in council assembled, on No- 
vember 6, 1895. 

A. N. MANUCY, 

Clerk of Council. 
Savannah, Ga., Nov. 6, 1895. 

(Seal of the City of Savannah.) 

Final decree, filed in office Nov. 9, 1895. 

James K. P. Carr, Clerk S. C. C. C. Ga. 

Georgia, ^ 

Chatham County. S 

Clerk's Office, Superior Court. 

I, James K. P. Carr, Clerk of the Superior Court of 
Chatham County, Georgia, which Court is a Court of 
Record, do hereby certify the foregoing six pages in 
typewriting and the map attached hereto, to be a true 
and correct copj^ of the final decree rendered in the 
cause of John Williamson, et al, Complainants and 
The Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah, 
Defendant ; The Church Wardens and Vestrymen of 
the Episcopal Church in Savannah called Christ 
Church, Complainant and The Maj^or and Aldermen 
of the City of Savannah, Defendant, on November 9th 
1895, as appears of record in Chatham Superior Court 
Minutes Book No. 62, folio 472. 

In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my 
official signature and affixed the seal of said Court at 
Savannah Georgia this March 17th 1902. 

JAMES K. P. CARR, 
(iv. s.) Clerk Superior Court, Chatham Coiinty, Geo. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 245 

fEndorsement.] 

SUPERIOR COURT 

OF 

Chatham County Georgia. 

hi re 

John Williamson et al Complainant 

and 

The Mayor and Aldermen op the City of Savannah, 

Defendant 



The Church Wardens and Vestrymen op the Episcopal 

Church in Savannah, Called the Christ Church, 

Complainant 

and 

The Mayor and Aldermen op the City op Savannah, 

Defendant 

"CERTIFIED COPY OF DECREE" 

James K. P. Carr, Clerk. 



Appendix F. 



The association of Patriotic Societies cordially in- 
vites you to be present on 

November 14th, 1902, 
at the ceremonies incidental to the re-interment of the 
remains of Major-General Nathanael Greene, under 
the monument heretofore dedicated to his memory in 
Savannah, Georgia. 

In order that arrangements may be made for your 
entertainment as a guest of the Association on the 
occasion, from noon on November 13 to noon of No- 
vember 15th, an early reply is respectfully requested. 

The Association of Patriotic Societies consists of 
the following Representatives : 

The Savannah Chapter^ 
Daughters of the American Revolution. 

Mrs. Edward Karow, 
Mrs. A. B. Hull, 
Mrs. R. T. Waller. 

The Georgia Society, 
Colonial Da^nes of America. 

Mrs. J. J. Wilder, 
Mrs. Annie Waring, 
Mrs. Walter G. Charlton, 
Miss Maria Minis. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 247 

The Georgia Society So?is of the Revolution. 
Hon. Walter G. Charlton, 
Gen. Will. W. Gordon, 
Mr. Alfred D. Harden. 

The Society of Colonial Wars in Georgia. 
Mr. J. A. G. Carson, 
Dr. T. P. Waring. 
Hon. Frank F. Jones. 

The Georgia Historical Society. 
Hon. William Harden. 

Officers of the Association. 
Will. W. Gordon, President. 

Vice- Presidents. 
Mrs. Edward Karow, 
Mrs. J. J. Wilder, 
Hon. Walter G. Charlton, 
Mr. J. A. G. Carson, 
Hon. Wm. Harden, 
Mr. R. T. Waller, Secretary. 



Appendix G. 



MILITARY ORDERS. 

GEORGIA Hussars, 
Troop A, I St Regt. Cav., Ga. S. T. 

Savannah, Ga., Nov. 13, 1902. 
Orders No. ^o : 

The troop will assemble at the armory Friday, Nov. 
14, 1902, at 2:15 p. m. mounted, in full dress uniform, 
helmet, plume, black leggings, and gauntlets, to par- 
ticipate in the parade and ceremonies incident to the 
re-interment of the remains of General Nathanael 
Greene. 

Veteran and country members are invited to turn 
out with the troop. 

Wm. W.' Gordon, Jr., 
Captai?i Conima7iding. 



Headquarters First Batt. H. A. G. T. 

(Savannah Volunteer Guards), ^' 

Savannah, Ga., Nov. 10, 1902. 
General Order No. 16 : 

The battalion is hereby ordered to assemble at the 
arsenal on Friday, Nov. 14, at 2:45 o'clock p. m., 
fully uniformed, armed and equipped (gray uniform 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 249 

campaign hats and leggings), to participate in the 
parade and ceremonies incident to the re-interment of 
the remains of General Nathanael Greene. 

By order of 

Major Wii^liamson. 
H. L. Richmond, 

First Lieutenant and Adjutant. 



NOTICE. 



The Society of the Sons of the Revolution, in the 
State of Georgia, will assemble in the Superior Court 
room, on Friday, Nov. 14, 1902, at 2.45 p. m., promptly, 
to participate in the ceremonies incident to the re-in- 
terment of the remains of Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene. 

Walter G. Charlton, 

President. 
Wm. Harden, 

Secretary. 



Appendix H. 



PROGRAMME OF GREENE CEREMONIES. 

{Fron Savannah Morning News : Friday, November 14, i()02.) 

Troops that are to participate in the parade assemble 
at 3:15 o'clock this afternoon on Oglethorpe avenue, 
with the right resting on Abercorn street. 

George Washington Greene Carpenter will unveil 
the tablet on the Graham-Mossman vault in the 
Colonial Cemetery, where the remains of Gen. Greene 
were originalh- interred. On behalf of the descend- 
ants of Gen. Greene, Hon. Walter G. Charlton will 
present the tablet to the care and custody of the city. 
On behalf of the cit}^ Alderman R. L. Colding will 
receive the tablet. 

Procession of troops and carriages will then move 
on Abercorn street to Libert}^, to Bull, to Johnson 
Square, where the remains of Gen. Nathanael Greene 
and his son, George Washington Greene, will be 
placed in the vault that has been fashioned for them 
beneath the Greene monument. During the progres's" 
of the procession, minute guns will be fired. Two 
pieces of the Chatham Artillery, manned by a detach- 
ment, will be established on Bay street, east, where 
they will be fired at intervals, while the procession is 
moving from the cemetery to the monument. 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 251 

The order of the exercises at the monument will be 
as follows : 

Praj-er, by Rt. Rev. Bishop Cleland K. Nelson, of 
the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. 

Placing of the remains in the vault. 

Unveiling of tablet placed on the monument by 
the Daughters of the American Revolution, Savannah 
Chapter, Mrs. Edward Karow, regent, withdrawing 
the veiling flag, and presenting the tablet to the city. 

Alderman R. E. Colding's acceptance on behalf of 
the city. 

Music, "America." 

Oration, by Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner, LE- D., E. H. 
D., president of the Rhode Island State Society of the 
Cincinnati, and secretary general of the Society of the 
Cincinnati. 

Music, "Star Spangled Banner." 

Benediction, by Rt. Rev. Bishop Nelson. 



Appendix I. 



The platform fronting the monument was filled 
with people. Among those for whom seats were re- 
served during the ceremonies were Gen. W. W. Gor- 
don, Rt. Rev. C. K. Nelson, Hon. A. B. Gardiner, 
His Excellency Charles Dean Kimball, Miss Nightin- 
gale, Miss Morel, Miss Johnston, Mrs. R. T. Waller, 
Mr. P. H. Skipwith, Jr., Mr. G. W. G. Carpenter, R. 
Iv. Colding, Esq., Judge Speer, Senator Bacon, Judge 
S. B. Adams, Hon. R. E. Lester, Judge Pope Barrow, 
Judge T. M. Norwood, Judge Henry McAlpin, Hon. 
W. W. Charlton, Col. G. A. Mercer, Hon. Horace F. 
Horton, Hon. J. E. Banigan, Hon. J. Stacy Brown, 
Hon. Francis W. Greene, Hon. Frank T. Easton, 
Capt. Charles H. Howland, Edward Field, Esq., 
George C. Nightingale, Hon. P. A. Stovall, Hon J. 
Ferris Cann, Mr. R. T. Waller, Mr. J. A. G. Carson, 
Mr. A. D. Harden, Dr. T. P. Waring, Rev. C. H. 
Strong, W. R. Leaken, Esq., Mr. J. M. Barnard, Jr., 
Mr. F. D. Bloodworth, Capt. G. B. Pritchard, Col. U. 
P. Thomassen, Mrs. C. W. Fairbanks, Mrs. R. E.' 
Park, Mrs. T. S. Morgan, Mrs. W. G. Charlton, Mrs. 
M. A. Lipscomb, Mrs. J. A. Coleman, Mrs. J. M. Bryan, 
Mrs. J. S. Howkins, Mrs. J. R. Lamar, Mrs. E. Karow, 
Miss Orme, Mrs. C. A. Gilbert, Miss Emma Coburn, 
Mrs. J. S. Wood, Mrs. W. L. Peel, Mrs. L. G. Young, 



NATHANAEL GREENE. 253 

Mrs. A. J. Waring, Mrs. J. J. Wilder, Mrs. W. W. 
Gordon, Mrs. J. B. S. Holmes, Mrs. W. H. Kiser, 
Mrs. J. M. Graham, Mrs. C. H. Olmstead, Mr.s. O. M. 
Cone, Miss Susan Olmstead, Mrs. W. A. Winburn, 
Mrs. R. B. Foy, Mrs. M. B. Hutchins, Mrs. Charles 
Barney, Mrs. A. F. Boyd, Mrs. M. h. Boyd, Mrs. P. 
W. Godfrey, Mrs. M. X. Coburn, Mrs. William Dick- 
son, Mrs. William E. Jones, Miss Woodfin, Miss 
Pritchard, Mrs. Lynah, Mrs. Frank Weldon, Mrs. 
Floyd, Miss Bradley, Miss Barnard, Mrs. H. G. Jef- 
fries, Mrs. W, H. Yeandle, Miss Louise DeBoss, Mrs. 
A. B. M. Gibbes, Mrs. R. Van I^andingham, Mrs. A. 
L. Howard, Mrs. G. J. Mills, Mrs. J. B. Cumming, 
Mrs. W. M. Alexander, Mrs. O. Ashmore, Mrs. J. H. 
Chappell, Mrs. J. G. Steinheirner, Mrs. T. J. Ran- 
dolph, Mrs. Louisa Banks, Mrs. W^ T. Williams, Mrs. 
T. S. Tutwiler, Miss A. C. Benning, Mrs. G. H. Rem- 
shart, Mrs. J. H. Redding, Mrs. Charles Bell, Mrs. A. 
H. Jones, Miss A. V. Jones, Mrs. D. Y. Dancy, Mrs. 
Kastman, Miss Wood, Miss N. B. Harrison, Miss 
Irene Withers, Mrs. W. D. Simkins, Mrs. G. B. Tied- 
man, Mrs. I. Y. Sage, Mrs. W. P. Patillo, Mrs. W. W. 
Curtis, Mrs. Sam. Jones, Mrs. A. O. Harper, Mrs. J. 
T. Swift, Mrs. R. J. Redding, Mrs. Alfred Healy, 
Mrs. T. R. Mills, Miss Annie Camack, Mrs. T. O. 
Chesney, Mrs. Sarah Saunders, Mrs. P. T. Callaway, 
Mrs. K. P. Dismukes, Miss M. L. Phillips, Mrs. J. G. 
Lester, Miss Francis Lewds, Miss M. O. Kline, Miss 
Marie Nisbet, Mrs. C. H. Strong, Mrs. J. C. LeHardy, 
Mrs. L. M. LeHardy, Mrs. T. S. Wylly, Mrs. W. W. 
Gordon, Jr., Miss Phoebe Elliott, Hon. Herman 



254: NATHANAEL GREENE. 

Myers, Alderman J. M. Dixon, Alderman H. H 
Bacon, Alderman A. J. Garfunkel, Alderman J. J 
Horrigan, Alderman E. M. Frank, Alderman E. A 
M. Schroeder, Alderman F. F. Jones, Alderman J. F 
Canty, Alderman R. L. Holland, Alderman W. J 
Watson, Alderman D. R. Thomas, Mr. P. D. Baffin, 
Mr. G. J. Baldwin, Mr. J. H. Entelman, Mr. Charles 
Ellis, Mr. I. A. Solomons, Capt. G. M. Gadsden, Mr. 
A. B. Elliott, Mr. J. Taliaferro, Mr. J. C. Postell, Mr. 
L. R. Wylly, Dr. Corbin, Mr. P. E. Twiggs, Capt. R. 

E. Park, Hon. William Harden, Mr. R. J. Travis, Mr. 
G. H. Remshart, Mr. M. S. Baker, Dr. T. B. Chis- 
holm, Mr. T. P. Ravenel, Mr. G. I. Taggart, Mr. W. 
P. Hardee, Mr. W. C. Offutt, Mr. R. L. Wylly, Mr. J. 

F. Myers, Mr. J. F. Minis, Mr. S. E. Theus, Mr. G. 
T. Cann, Mr. R. H. Wylly, Mr. T. J. Sheftall, Mr. 
Hugh V. Washington, Dr. W. B. Burroughs, Mr. 
George W. Wylly, Mr. G. Noble Jones, Mr. D. E. 
Huger Smith, Mr. William Dearing, Mr. Charles 
Ellis, Mr. John M. Eagan, Mr. T. D. Cline, Mr. 
Richard W. Powers, Capt. John Flannery, Maj. Edw. 
Karow, Mr. Joseph Hull, Mr. S. P. Shotter, Mr. J. J. 
Kirby, Mr. C. H. Wilcox, Mr. H. D. Stevens, Mr. T. 
H. McMillan, Col. J. H. Estill, Mr. Leopold Adler, 
Mr. B. H. Levy, Mr. Henry Levy, Mr. J. B. Chesnut, 
Mr. J. J. O'Neill, Mr. Joseph W. Jackson, Mr. W. D. 
Krenson, and Mr. Lee Roy Myers. 



Index. 



Address of Hon. Emory Speer 17 

His Excellency Charles Dean Kimball, Governor of 

Rhode Island 20 

Hon. Walter G. Charlton 130 

Rev. C. K. Nelson 138 

Mrs. Edward Karow 140 

Alderman Robert L. Colding 130, 141 

Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner 144 

Appendix A. Act of General Assembly of North Caro- 
lina confirming gift of land, &c., to Gen. Na- 
thanael Greene iSo 

B. Proceedings of General Assembly of Georgia, 

relative to gift to Gen. Nathanael Greene. 185 

C. Account of funeral obsequies of Gen. Nathanael 

Greene, at Savannah, June 20, 17S6 191 

D. Address of Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner, LL.D., 

LH.D., on the discovery of the remains 
of Gen. Nathanael Greene, delivered at 
Newport, R. I., July 4, 1901 195 

E. Decree of Supreme Court of Chatham county, 

Georgia, relative to Colonial Park, Sa- 
vannah, Ga., with plat 237 

F. Invitation from Association of Patriotic Socie- 

ties to attend exercises at re-interment of 
remains of Gen. NathanaeT^Greene 246 

G. Military orders. Sec, in connection with cere- 

monies at re-interment of remains of Gen. 

Nathanael Greene 248 

H. Programme of exercises at re-interment of re- 
mains of Gen. Nathanael Greene 2So 



256 INDEX. 

Appendix I. List of invited guests at exercises attend- 
ing re-interment of remains of Gen. Nathanael 
Greene 252 

Association of Patriotic Societies formed to take charge 
of re-interment of remains of Gen. Nathanael 
Greene 123 

Colonial cemetery, history of, q5 

occupied by Union Army during Civil War 97 

dedicated as a public park 99 

see also Appendix E 237 

Daughters of American Revolution place tablet on Greene 

monument 140 

Discovery of remains of Gen. Nathanael Greene 105 

cofifin-plate of Gen. Nathanael Greene 105 

see also Exhibit A 28 

see also Appendix D 195 

Exercises at re-interment of remains of Gen. Greene, Co- 
lonial Park 126 

address of Hon. Walter G. Charlton 130 

" Acting Mayor R. L. Colding 131 

formation of procession 124 

Greene Monument, prayer by Bishop Nelson 138 

address by Mrs. Edward Karow 140 

" Acting Mayor R. L. Colding .... 141 

tribute from Rhode Island 143 

oration by Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner 144 

see also Appendix H 250 

Greene, George Washington, remains of discovered 105 

re-interred under monument at Savannah 140^ 

Nathanael, birth of 71 

marriage 72 

returns to Rhode Island, after Revolution.. . 74 

arrives at Newport, R. 1 75 

receives gift from State of North Carolina . . 76 

South Carolina . . 77 



INDEX. 257 

Greene, Nathanael, receives gift from State of Georgia. . 77 

becomes a resident of Georgia 77 

describes Mulberry Grove estate 79 

makes journey to Savannah 80 

sickness and death of 81 

funeral obsequies of 83 

discovery of remains 105 

see also Appendix D 195 

Exhibit A 28 

correspondence relative to disposition of re-mains, 

Exhibit B 50 

description of remains 112 

remains of, re-interred under monument at Savan- 
nah 140 

Invited guests at exercises attending re-interment of re- 
mains of Gen. Greene 123 

see also Appendix 1 252 

Monument to Gen. Greene described 135 

Reception to Joint Special Committee of General Assem- 
bly of Rhode Island by Judge Emory Speer. ... 17 

Report of Joint Special Committee of General Assembly 
of Rhode Island relative to remains of Gen. 
Nathanael Greene i 

Resolutions of General Assembly of Rhode Island rela- 
tive to remains of Gen. Nathanael Greene. ..4, 5, 10 

Rhode Island Society of Cincinnati takes steps to dis- 
cover remains of Gen. Nathanael Greene 92 

committee of appointed to make the search 93 

arrives in Savannah 95 

petition to General Assembly of Rhode Island, 

Exhibit C 57 

Search for remains of Gen. Nathanael Greene 100 

Tablet placed on tomb where remains were found 127 

on monument erected to memory of Gen. Greene, . 140 

17 



